July 6, 2007 — Claudette J. Watson-Anderson is looking forward to making some big changes at the Department of Finance — and seeing her nomination to head the agency make it through the full Senate body during an upcoming session.
Watson-Anderson made it over the first hurdle Friday, as her nomination cleared the Senate's Rules and Judiciary Committee by unanimous vote. During a four-hour hearing, senators heaped praise on the nominee, saying they were impressed by her plans to reconcile the finances of the territory and make the department more transparent.
"The presentation that you've given us today is a serious indictment on the current status of the Department of Finance," said Sen. Norman Jn Baptiste. "But I like that — we need someone in there who can tell it like it is."
While her first priority as Finance commissioner would be the completion of the enterprise resource planning system (ERP) — a comprehensive database that will replace the old financial-management system, Watson-Anderson said, she also explained that new methods for keeping track of the territory’s revenues and collections would soon be put into place.
This includes developing new policies to keep track of the department's records, so employees and customers would be better able to access them, she said. Over the years Finance has amassed a large quantity of paper files and tax-payment records that have yet to be catalogued or labeled.
"It is my intention that the filing systems at the department will be improved where information requested can be provided on demand," Watson-Anderson explained. "The air-conditioned rooms stacked with unmarked boxes from floor to ceiling — with files that are not accessible — will be a memory."
Better record keeping — such as the tracking of vendor payments, government revenues and the processing of employees' pay checks — will eventually be made simpler by the completion of the ERP, she said. It should be fully launched within one to three years, she said. Another priority is training Department of Finance employees to handle the system, one that has not received much attention in the past, Watson-Anderson said.
In the wake of the recent compliance agreement between the V.I. government and the U.S. Department of Education, additional emphasis will be placed on making the department more accountable — particularly when it comes to keeping tabs on the many government accounts housed at banks within the territory, Watson-Anderson said.
Drawing on her past experience as the Legislature's post auditor, she explained that financial statements and balance sheets submitted to the Senate on a regular basis will now reflect how government expenditures match up against allotted revenues and fiscal-year projections.
"The V.I. government, of which the Department of Finance is the financial and reporting arm, has had repeated audit findings that have been carried over in every audit report that I have read," Watson-Anderson added. "Under my leadership, we will develop a system of accountability and monitoring to reduce audit findings, with specific emphasis on eliminating repeated items."
In an effort to better concentrate on handling the territory's finances, Watson-Anderson said she is prepared, if necessary, to divest the department from any responsibilities that could be handled by another entity. The collection of property-tax payments, for example, could possibly be turned over to the Bureau of Internal Revenue, she explained.
Consideration will also go to removing the Finance commissioner from serving on a number of the territory's boards and commissions. If confirmed by the full Senate body, Watson-Anderson will sit on the Public Finance Authority, V.I. Lottery Commission, Tax Review and Banking boards, as mandated by V.I. law.
Other plans outlined by Watson-Anderson include beefing up the department's staff (currently there are only two certified public accountants on board), revamping the workers' compensation policies and making sure that Finance offices on St. Croix become fully integrated into the department's operations.
"Senators, this is an opportunity for which I am prepared," Watson-Anderson said. "As commissioner of Finance, the buck stops with me, and I have been raised to believe that failure is not an option."
Voting in favor of Watson-Anderson's nomination on Friday were Sens. Carlton "Ital" Dowe, Shawn-Michael Malone, Usie R. Richards, James Weber III, Carmen M. Wesselhoft and Alvin L. Williams.
Sen. Celestino A. White Sr. was absent.
Non-committee members Sens. Liston Davis and Jn Baptiste were also present.
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