Senate Advances Bills on First Responder Retirement, STJ Fish Market and Hotel Taxes

The Senate Committee on Finance approved three measures during a Tuesday meeting in St. Croix. The first bill to escape the committee, sponsored by Senator Dwayne M. Degraff and amended by Senator Novelle E. Francis, seeks to raise the mandatory retirement age for police officers, firefighters and corrections personnel from 55 to 63. The law would not affect the minimum retirement age. “A 63 year-old today is not the same,” said Antonio Stevens, the assistant director of the Virgin Islands Fire Service in support of the bill, “nor do they look like a 63 year old of years past.” The proposed legislation, Bill No. 0099, aims to retain staff and bring much needed funds into the struggling Government Employee Retirement System (GERS). GERS Administrator Austin L. Nibbs estimated that the bill could potentially generate $5.6 million in additional member contributions into the system over the next eight years, but stated it would have a minimal impact on the system’s unfunded liability and requires more comprehensive legislation. While the retirement age was initially raised by Act 7636, the law expired on October 1, 2021. Governor Albert Bryan, Jr. extended the act through executive order, but only as long as the Territory remains in a State of Emergency. The Territory currently remains in a State of Emergency, but the governor must renew that order every 30 days. This bill aims to make the provision concrete under the VI Code. Following the approval of the first bill on the agenda, the committee went on to approve $920,000 for the construction of an “aesthetically pleasing” fish market and bulkhead improvements at the Little Cruz Bay Dock in St. John. The bill also appropriates $580,000 for a boat dock and slipway at Eighned Pond on STJ. The Virgin Islands Port Authority will take control of the funding for the construction project at Little Cruz Bay Dock while the Department of Public Works will manage the construction project at Eighned Pond. To end the session, the Finance Committee approved Bill No. 34-0070, which would require any travel organization contracted with the government that offers sleeping accommodations in the USVI to “collect and remit” the 12.5% Hotel Room Tax established under Title 33 of the VI Code. With the growth in popularity of online booking sites for hotels, motels and other sleeping accommodations, the proposed measure seeks to align all entities offering those services with a process the government already established with the popular booking agent, Airbnb. When a patron books a room in the territory with Airbnb, the company collects the required hotel room tax and delivers that money to the government on behalf of the customer. The proposed measure would require all booking companies of that nature adhere to the same process established with Airbnb. Since the law does not require all agencies to follow the same model, the bill’s sponsor, Senator Samuel Carrion said that the government has been ineffective at securing those proceeds. “The bottom line here is: we are leaving money on the table. And we are leaving millions and millions of dollars on the table,” said the bill’s sponsor, Senator Samuel Carrion. “And we need to close the gap so that we don’t continue to leave money on the table.” The three bills will move on to the Senate Rules and Judiciary Committee for further consideration before they can advance to the Senate floor.