Dear Source:
We all love the Virgin Islands. We love it so much that there are few people who live here that would want to see it change at all. Those ideals are what we live here for. Unfortunately, we live in the twentieth century and we must also address the realities of the world around us. We all want the government to prosper better than it has-fiscally. We all want better standards of living for ourselves and our children. We tend to resist change but change is inevitable in every society. Anyone who has lived in the Virgin Islands understands that the diversity of our culture is our greatest asset. People who are discovering the Virgin Islands realize that it is a great departure from anywhere else in the world. Yet, with all its wonderful culture and beauty, we still seem disenfranchised with our government, but do little to change it. Do we want to change the way we do business in terms of the government operations? The answer, sometimes grudgingly, is yes. Do we want to meddle in changing our government? What steps can we take?
First, we need the electorate of the Virgin Islands to decide if change is needed. That can be done easily by a simple poll where the reasons we need change are clearly outlined. This is the first step in starting what is called a legal public initiative. If a majority of the people, through a binding initiative, elect to make sweeping changes then change can happen. The next logical step is to take that initiative and hold a Constitutional Convention, where any reforms the electorate chooses can be made legally binding, regardless of what the present government wants. In a sense, this lawful and very democratic method of bringing about change is a revolution. The very structure of the United States Constitution is based upon the principle that citizens can change what is not working lawfully. If a Constitutional Convention was the people's mandate, then the convention must have a platform where all sides have a tangible series of alternatives under which to vote on. Each platform item, regardless of the content, must be clear in intent, well thought out and contain fiscal realities if adopted. Citizens from across the Virgin Islands are eligible to be involved and each elector must understand that such an undertaking is historic and marks an enormous change from the norms under which we are used to living.
Having a Constitutional Convention means the majority of the people want change and want extreme modifications in the way we do business in the Virgin Islands. Every aspect of our lives and how we will do things in the future are at stake and must be considered. Our very form of democratic government structure is in question. Leadership is the key to making the necessary changes we all intuitively know must come.
If changes do occur through the will of the electorate, we must be steadfast to ensure that the transition is smooth. It will not be easy and there will be doubts. It will take time, perhaps 3 to 5 years to make a solid transition, and it must be lawful. If municipal government or any other changes are on the agenda, we must have a solid plan.
The first thing we must do is enact a Virgin Islands Constitution which may allow the following:
1. Enact and/ or modify existing laws that allow legal corporations called municipalities.
2. Enact and/or modify existing laws that reduce or alter the role of the present central government.
3. Enact and/or modify existing laws that mandate the central government sole power in collection of public monies.
4. Enact and /or modify existing laws that give sole enforcement of any territorial law to the central government and allow municipalities to create, adopt or adapt local legal statutes and by-laws and to have authority to enforce such statutes or by-laws legally through the courts. To allow municipal district courts for the purpose of enforcement of local statutes.
5. Allow most presently owned or leased Virgin Islands government land to be ceded to local municipalities and to allow most presently owned or leased government buildings, vehicles, equipment and ancillary goods to be ceded to local municipalities for the purpose of local control and municipal facilities.
6. Revise, delete, repeal or enact laws that allow, (notwithstanding those laws that require or are mandated to be under central government control) each island government to solely govern: police, fire, public works, building inspections, zoning issues, environmental issues, collection of revenues, public health, trash collection, parks and recreational agencies and such agencies required to operate a local legal, autonomous municipality.
7. Enact, repeal, and/or modify existing laws that allow sharing of capital to each autonomous island government by a formula based on population and/or growth patterns. To share central government funds and remit said funds to various municipal agencies which are federally initiated grants, excess territorial capital and/ or other funding which normally would have been retained by the territorial government for specific uses now relegated to municipalities. (Ex. Federal education grants, police and fire grants) The central government would provide seed monies to each legal municipality through capital sharing.
8. Enact, repeal or modify existing laws that will allow local municipalities to control the legal confines of each island except where mandated or required by federal law. To empower the electorate of each island, through an initial island municipal government, to incorporate agreed upon tracts of lands into additional separate towns, townships or villages. To allow every legally adopted municipality to be either incorporated with existing municipalities or to be individually incorporated with separate statutes and by laws and the same rights as any other incorporated land area.
9. Enact, repeal or modify existing law that allows municipal employees to belong to existing government retirement systems with the same rights, responsibilities and privileges as central government employees, or to have the option of creating a municipal retirement system for municipal employees.
10. Enact, repeal or modify existing laws that limit the size of the central territorial government and to define or re-define the roles of each department within the now-limited government (executive, legislative, judicial). Allow existing central government employees to become municipal employees with the same government tenure, time in grade and equal compensation without loss of benefits normally associated with a like-kind position. (Ex. Building inspectors, police, fire personnel, clerks, etc).
11. Legally limit the size and budget of the Senate to eight members and no more than three staff each. Three (3) elected from St Croix, three (3) elected from St Thomas and two (2) elected from St John. Elected senators shall legally reside on the island from which they are elected (district representation). Senators shall serve with no pay during their term in office but shall be compensated for expenditures while performing the duties of office and for compensation of staff.
12. Allow municipalities to control, alter, add to, and regulate existing communications lines, power lines, water conduits, sewage conduits, waste water facilities and other utilities and to accommodate any existing public utility or to build, alter, or dispose of any existing public utility equipment or buildings. Each municipality shall be legally allowed to entertain bids and proposals for the provision of electric power, communications, sewage or water distribution from any entity of its choosing and may, at its discretion, build, modify or alter facilities for the production of electric power, communications, sewage or water distribution.
13. Enact, repeal or modify existing laws and, notwithstanding the laws regulating the Economic Development Commission (EDC), each municipality shall have the power of taxation through real estate taxes. Businesses, open land, residences, farm land and otherwise all lands within th
e boundaries of a municipality shall be taxed at a rate commensurate to the type of property and shall be equal to an amount required for the annual budget of each municipality minus any funds distributed from any other source, including territorial shared funds to municipalities, direct grants to municipalities, excess funds from previous years, contingency funds and the like. The total budget of a municipality shall be determined by July of the previous fiscal year. Each municipality shall set real estate tax rates based upon an assessed value formula of all lands and buildings located with the confines of the municipality. The total budget in any fiscal year shall never exceed 2.5% of the actual expenditures in any previous year, except through a vote of the municipal council or, where used, at a yearly town meeting of electors. Specific and major capital expenditures are the only allowable override of the 2.5% rule.
14. Repeal existing laws, which govern the gross receipts tax. Enact a law regulating a sales tax on all goods sold within the Virgin Islands at a rate commensurate with what a gross receipts tax would have derived if in place. Such sales tax shall be in addition to any collected duties, import fees or legally regulated fees or excise taxes associated with importation of goods and collected by the territorial government. Such sales tax shall be collected by businesses through sales of goods at the point of sale and be remitted to the territorial government within 7 days of its collection. The territorial government shall have the right to regulate the sales tax rate on those goods and/or services through existing or newly enacted laws regulating taxation rates.
The abovementioned changes represent a sweeping departure from our existing form of government and may, at first reading, seem excessive. Although they appear massive in terms of procedural change, the suggested modifications are the standard for the United States.
Each municipal form of government in the USA is a legal corporation whether it is the city, town or county form. Every state has the responsibility of providing protective laws for all the people within the boundaries of the state and each municipality has the legal, corporate ability to control the function of the municipal government within its boundaries. The state sets the laws that govern municipalities and the municipalities abide by them.
Fiscal requirements, such as tax rates, are approved by the state according to tax law enacted at the state level. Capital sharing of funds is also set by the state and it is intended to help municipalities adhere to federal and state mandates such as education, police and human services. Federal monies are always granted to states (or territories) and filtered down to municipalities usually based upon population. Or what is known as "matching funds". It is incumbent on the state or territory to ensure that all federal, or sometimes state excess funds, to be filtered to the municipality since the "state" has no people- everyone lives in a municipality. The state (territory) only has an obligation to manage those agencies mandated by federal or territorial law. Municipalities always have control and responsibility over local education, police, fire, etc.
The government of the Virgin Islands now has complete control over our fiscal lives and we hope that our elected officials will act as the "municipality" and provide exactly what we need to survive and prosper. Over many years, this has not occurred simply because the central government is not "in touch" with what is reality on each island. They are more concerned with getting through the fiscal year, paying off huge debts and have no idea what is reality in our own back yards.
We do.
So it is clear that we must take matters into our own hands locally. Only changing our structure of government can do that. Municipal government is the answer but we must fight to get it. Will you?
Paul Devine
St. John
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