The Virgin Islands Office of Veterans Affairs is seeking about $1.22 million in General Fund support for fiscal year 2027 while expanding medical travel benefits and advancing major infrastructure projects.
Director Patrick D. Farrell told the Senate Budget, Appropriations and Finance Committee that the office’s focus remains on improving services for thousands of veterans across the territory, many of whom, he said, still miss out on help simply because they do not know what is available.
The 2027 proposal includes roughly $525,000 for personnel costs, $243,000 for operations and $450,000 for medical travel and burial assistance. The agency also expects about $111,600 in non‑appropriated revenue from the Virgin Islands Lottery and the Taxicab Commission. The request is slightly lower than the roughly $1.32 million the office sought for the current year.
Farrell said the office has strengthened its financial operations over the past year, reporting no overdue vendor payments and clearing a backlog of reimbursements for veterans’ medical travel and burial costs.
Medical travel usage increased significantly. In fiscal year 2025, more than 190 veterans were reimbursed for off-island medical trips totaling about $66,000, Farrell said. The benefit was expanded under Act 8991, which allows veterans up to two reimbursed mainland medical trips per year.
“This enhanced the quality of life for our veterans by allowing them to attend important medical appointments without having to choose between their health care needs and other essential living expenses,” he said. “Access to health care should never be determined by geography.”
To reduce reliance on off-island care, the office has expanded partnerships with local providers and transportation services. A St. Croix-based airline partnership has flown more than 90 veterans to Puerto Rico for treatment at a total cost of about $32,000, Farrell said. Officials are also developing a “Veterans Day” clinic model with the East End Medical Center Corporation that would reserve one Saturday each month for veterans-only care on St. Thomas.
Staffing remains limited, with a small team on St. Thomas and one employee on St. Croix. Two vacancies remain unfilled, which Farrell said he wants to merge into a single communications and outreach position aimed at improving public awareness of services.
He also warned that burial infrastructure is nearing capacity. On St. Thomas, two crypts and one columbarium are already in use, and Farrell said an additional multi-vault crypt is needed immediately. He estimated the last crypt cost about $417,000 and said current construction costs are likely higher, promising to return with updated figures and a funding request.
The office is also moving forward with a planned state veterans cemetery on St. Croix that has received conditional federal approval, along with a $1.5 million veterans complex on St. Thomas that will house the local office and provide space for veterans organizations.
Farrell said the St. Croix cemetery project advanced after the Legislature amended Virgin Islands law to allow all eligible U.S. veterans, not just Virgin Islanders, to be interred there. On St. Thomas, the Clarence Beverhoudt, Sr. Veterans Complex is in the design phase and will be built on the site of the former Smalls Electric building in Sub Base, also providing space for the Patrick U. George American Legion Post 90.
Farrell told senators the Office of Veterans Affairs is still owed $61,639.92 from veterans taxi-medallion auctions held in 2021 through 2025, money that by law should be routed to Veterans Affairs but has not been consistently remitted. “However, the Office of Veterans Affairs has not received proceeds from auctions conducted in 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025,” Farrell said, asking the committee to help ensure future distributions arrive “timely and consistently.”
Farrell said he recently raised the issue with the Taxicab Commission and was told some years’ payments are now “in process” at the Finance Department. Several senators pressed why relatively modest, predictable amounts had not been forwarded on schedule. “They’ve got to step up their game and do a better job,” Sen. Kurt A. Vialet said, noting the funds have already been collected and should be routed to Veterans Affairs.
The $61,639.92 shortfall is a relatively small fraction of the office’s overall budget, but Farrell said it matters because the money is legally dedicated to veterans’ services and, if remitted reliably, would allow the office to plan for transportation, outreach and burial assistance instead of repeatedly asking the Legislature to intervene.
The office is also expanding women veterans programs, including a new license plate designed with input from about 40 women veterans and proposed legislation to create a women veterans coordinator position.
Looking ahead, the territory is preparing to host the 2027 National Association of State Directors of Veterans Affairs conference, which is expected to bring together veterans officials from across the United States and its territories. “We intend to showcase the very best of the Virgin Islands, while simultaneously advancing issues to support veterans nationwide,” Farrell said.
Farrell emphasized that the office’s core mission remains direct service. “Our commitment remains unchanged,” he said. “Every veteran will continue to receive the same personalized face-to-face assistance that has long been the hallmark of the Virgin Islands Office of Veterans Affairs.”
