Finance Committee Chairperson Sen. Lorraine Berry has announced the new dates for her panel's budget hearings, which were delayed one week by request of the Turnbull administration.
"In a spirit of cooperation with the administration as it attempts to cope with the worsening fiscal crisis, and upon request of Office of Management and Budget Director Ira Mills, budget hearings have been rescheduled," Berry said Tuesday in a written statement.
The hearings were supposed to have begun on July 27, but officials requested more time to implement the 10-percent cuts ordered by Gov. Charles Turnbull, Berry said. The heads of government departments are now supposed to be cutting their budgets by 10 percent.
The budget hearings will begin on August 4 in St. Thomas, when Mills and other top finance officials will present a budget overview and the administration's revenue projections.
During the afternoon, the same officials will discuss what contributions will be made to the government's various special funds. The V.I. Lottery Commission will also make its budget presentation that day.
On Thursday Aug. 5, OMB, the Office of the Lieutenant Governor and the V.I. Water and Power Authority will present their budgets.
The Territorial Court, the Department of Finance and the Public Finance Authority will present budgets the following day.
