GERS Asking Government to Contribute More

Angel Dawson, administrator of the Government Employees’ Retirement System, gave the Committee on Budget, Appropriations and Finance on Tuesday what he called “a glimmer of light in the midst of what has been a gloomy budget season.”

In his annual overview of the system, he discussed investment performance, saying that the market value of assets increased from $400 million on Sept. 30, 2022, to $455 million on Sept. 30, 2023. He added, “Thus far in fiscal year 2024, the market value of assets has increased by another $69 million from $455 million on Sept. 30, 2023, to $524 million on July 31, 2024.”

The system did have a shortfall of $34 million because instead of receiving the $158 million federal Matching Fund cover-over rate, it received $124 million because the rate was $10.50 per proof gallon of rum produced in the U.S. instead of $13.25, on which the rescue plan was based.

Under the territory’s Revised Organic Act, any excise tax collected on USVI-manufactured rum imported into the mainland United States is transferred to or “covered over” to the USVI. The V.I. government submits an advance estimate of rum excise taxes to the Interior Department’s Office of Insular Affairs on an annual basis so that a payment can be made by September of each fiscal year.