June 30, 2007 – By the middle of July, property owners will know how their property values were impacted by the recent revaluation, Gov. John P. deJongh Jr. said Saturday at a meeting of the V.I. Territorial Association of Realtors held at Caneel Bay Resort on St. John.
He said impact notices will go out by then.
"They'll include where you can call or go to if you have a question," the governor said.
The revaluation of residential properties is 99 percent complete, he said and all commercial properties are done.
The 2006 property tax bills, which will reflect the revaluation, should be mailed by the fall, with the 2007 tax bills going out in May or June of 2008, he said.
This means that property owners will pay two tax bills in 2007. The 2005 bills were sent out this spring, nearly a year late thanks to technical problems at the tax assessor's office.
DeJongh said the signing this week by President Bush of a bill that repeals a section of the 1936 Organic Act gives the territory the authority to administer its own property tax system. He said it will allow the government to reinstate things like homestead and veteran's property tax exemptions.
"We'll look at whether to change those numbers," he said of the dollar amount for exemptions.
The governor also vowed to streamline the payment process to make it easier for property owners to pay their taxes thus allowing the government to collect the money it's owned.
Plans are also in the works to simplify the business licensing process to make it quicker for people to get into business and expedite the government's ability to collect it's business taxes.
"You can open a bank account and I can get the gross receipts," he said, referring the 4 percent gross receipts tax paid by businesses.
DeJongh said he plans to step up the recruitment of companies that can benefit from the territory's Economic Development Commission tax benefit packages. However, he said he wouldn't want to have companies that received EDC benefits competing with companies already located in the territory that don't get the benefits.
DeJongh said that Rep. Charlie Rangel of New York has promised to help work out federal technical issues with the EDC law, which came under fire from the Treasury Department a few years ago and caused the territory to loose untold millions of dollars in the process.
Along with several rounds of applause and standing ovations from the dozens of real estate agents at the event, deJongh also got a promise of help.
"We as Realtors would like to let you know that we care about our community. If there's anyway we can help you, call upon us," association board president Christie O'Neil said.
DeJongh said he would be sure to ask for their help.
Several real estate agents asked questions about affordable housing.
He said his proposal to put all housing functions under what is now called the Housing Finance Authority will help with that situation.
Earlier, he said he planned to implement a bonding program for local builders.
The governor pointed out that many aspects of life in the territory impact the real estate industry. He said high on the list was crime.
DeJongh said that addressing the crime issue was a high priority, and the government planned to hire 150 police officers. However, he said that those offices must be top quality.
DeJongh said he would address planning issues through the Planning and Natural Resources Department as well as by hiring the long-promised planner for St. John.
He also plans to hire someone to focus on the territory's development to make sure things don't get lost in the government bureaucracy, he said.
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