Unclear Budget Projections and Elusive Rum Funds Fuel Tensions in V.I. Senate

Lawmakers continue to express concerns that a murky picture of government finances is hindering them from being able to make good decisions regarding appropriations and government spending.

The enormous challenge of grappling with the territorial budget, spread as it is across a myriad of government agencies and departments with funds coming from several different resource pools, was made apparent on Tuesday as the government finance team appeared again before the Senate committee on Budget, Appropriations and Finance.

Office of Management and Budget Jenifer O’Neal presented a slightly slimmed down revised budget for fiscal year 2024 – $1.397 billion, down from $1.423 billion as presented in early June.

The change comes from a proposed $26 million reduction in general fund appropriations. Ms. O’Neal said that “prudent budgeting” required the trim down, given shifts in the territory’s economic prospects since the 2024 budget was first presented earlier this year.

The biggest item to be axed was $15 million in funded vacancies across central government, including $3.6 million worth at the V.I. Police Department, $3 million in the Department of Education, $2.7 million worth of vacancies at the Bureau of Corrections, and $2.4 million at the Department of Human Services – all agencies that have had to contend with significant understaffing. Ms. O’Neal said that the struggles to onboard sufficient workers meant that money was being set aside for vacancies that remain unfilled, and so the positions were eliminated in favor of having agencies provide line item lump sums for their critical hiring needs.