Oct. 10, 2002 – What costs Virgin Islands taxpayers the most money — police services, the health system, or interest on the territory’s bonded debt?
The Police Department budget for Fiscal Year 2003 is $38 million.
That for the Health Department is $27.2 million.
The current annual interest on the bonded debt is about equal to those two amounts combined, approximately $65.6 million.
This figure is calculated from data published by Mergent, the successor to Moody’s, the long-established financial reporting organization. The information is public record, with funding allocated in the V.I. government's annual budget and documented in its financial statements. It also can be accessed in any good-sized public library.
The $65.6 million is the interest — without any repayment of principal — on the territory’s $1 billion-plus bonded debt. (See "V.I. bonded debt soars to more than $1 billion".)
In terms of bond debt repayment, Mergent indicates that the territory is scheduled to repay about $27.2 million during 2002.
Thus, the territory's total bill this year for its bonds will be around $92.8 million.
The $65.6 million also does not include the interest on the recently floated $21.7 million in bonds against future tobacco revenues, which has not yet been reported by Mergent.
While Mergent does not publish dollar figures on interest owed, it does show the size of bonds, when they are due, and the interest rates for various time periods. Calculations based on those figures for the Virgin Islands make the current annual interest payment about $65.6 million.
On average, the V.I. bond issues cost a little over 6 percent a year. That's a relatively low rate — because the interest on the bonds is exempt from both U.S. and state income taxes, and because interest rates in general have been relatively low in recent years.
The territory's bonded debt is, in the words of Wall Street, "backloaded," with most principal repayments scheduled for the "out years" — the latter end of the repayment period — and with interest rates rising as the years pass. Many of the government officials who created these debts will be long gone when it comes time for the biggest bills to be paid.
In terms of debt repayment, Mergent indicates that the repayment figures will steadily rise from this year's $27.2 million until peaking at $57 million in the year 2021.
Note, however: The repayment of the bonded debt will peak in 2021 only if the territory does not borrow one more cent in the ensuing years. That would be two decades of fiscal restraint markedly different from the last few years, in which the territory's bonded debt has more than doubled, from $510,255,000 reported in Mergent at the end of 1997 to the current total (including the tobacco funds loan) of $1,069,664,000.
Along with principal repayments, the interest charges also are backloaded, to some extent. These charges rise with the passage of time, as the bonds issued by the V.I. Public Finance Authority in its Series 1999-A illustrate. This was the largest of the territory's bond issues, creating $299,880,000 in debt.
At first, for the relatively minor amount of money to be repaid in 2000 ($3.6 million), the interest rate was 4.20 percent. For the bonds in this series maturing in 2029, the rate is 6.125 percent; in that year, repayment of $21.1 million of the principal will be due.
The backloading of the bond issues contrasts with what families face when they take out a mortgage to buy a house. Typically the payment, both interest and principal, is fixed at the same dollar amount for the life of the mortgage, with the hope that inflation will make it easier to pay in the "out years," as compared to the initial ones. This system is not used for state and municipal bonds generally.
Bond repayment schedule
The V.I. government's bond repayment schedule over the next 27 years, excluding interest, looks like this:
Year – Principal
2002 – $27.2 million
2003 – $28.1 million
2004 – $29.6 million
2005 – $31.4 million
2006 – $29.3 million
2007 – $31.0 million
2008 – $97.7 million
2009 – $33.8 million
2010 – $35.7 million
2011 – $37.6 million
2012 – $39.8 million
2013 – $39.0 million
2014 – $41.2 million
2015 – $43.8 million
2016 – $46.2 million
2017 – $49.0 million
2018 – $47.9 million
2019 – $50.6 million
2020 – $52.3 million
2021 – $57.0 million
2022 – $34.4 million
2023 – $19.0 million
2024 – $45.7 million
2025 – $28.8 million
2026 – $19.8 million
2027 – $21.1 million
2028 – $22.4 million
2029 – $22.9 million
The figure for 2008 is significantly higher because the 1984 bond issue of the V.I. Public Works Acceleration Authority, according to Mergent, all matures in that year. Typically, the repayment of bond issues is spread over several years, but the document does not indicate that this is the case.
The repayment figures above do not include the recent tobacco bond issue and do not include any interest payments. They assume no new bond issues in the next 27 years. They also assume that the V.I. government will pay off all the bonds as they become due, rather than rolling them over for later payment. The calculations are exclusively for the territory’s bonded debt and do not cover at least $400 million in other, unbonded debts.

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Oct. 10, 2002 – What costs Virgin Islands taxpayers the most money — police services, the health system, or interest on the territory’s bonded debt?
The Police Department budget for Fiscal Year 2003 is $38 million.
That for the Health Department is $27.2 million.
The current annual interest on the bonded debt is about equal to those two amounts combined, approximately $65.6 million.
This figure is calculated from data published by Mergent, the successor to Moody’s, the long-established financial reporting organization. The information is public record, with funding allocated in the V.I. government's annual budget and documented in its financial statements. It also can be accessed in any good-sized public library.
The $65.6 million is the interest — without any repayment of principal — on the territory’s $1 billion-plus bonded debt. (See "V.I. bonded debt soars to more than $1 billion".)
In terms of bond debt repayment, Mergent indicates that the territory is scheduled to repay about $27.2 million during 2002.
Thus, the territory's total bill this year for its bonds will be around $92.8 million.
The $65.6 million also does not include the interest on the recently floated $21.7 million in bonds against future tobacco revenues, which has not yet been reported by Mergent.
While Mergent does not publish dollar figures on interest owed, it does show the size of bonds, when they are due, and the interest rates for various time periods. Calculations based on those figures for the Virgin Islands make the current annual interest payment about $65.6 million.
On average, the V.I. bond issues cost a little over 6 percent a year. That's a relatively low rate — because the interest on the bonds is exempt from both U.S. and state income taxes, and because interest rates in general have been relatively low in recent years.
The territory's bonded debt is, in the words of Wall Street, "backloaded," with most principal repayments scheduled for the "out years" — the latter end of the repayment period — and with interest rates rising as the years pass. Many of the government officials who created these debts will be long gone when it comes time for the biggest bills to be paid.
In terms of debt repayment, Mergent indicates that the repayment figures will steadily rise from this year's $27.2 million until peaking at $57 million in the year 2021.
Note, however: The repayment of the bonded debt will peak in 2021 only if the territory does not borrow one more cent in the ensuing years. That would be two decades of fiscal restraint markedly different from the last few years, in which the territory's bonded debt has more than doubled, from $510,255,000 reported in Mergent at the end of 1997 to the current total (including the tobacco funds loan) of $1,069,664,000.
Along with principal repayments, the interest charges also are backloaded, to some extent. These charges rise with the passage of time, as the bonds issued by the V.I. Public Finance Authority in its Series 1999-A illustrate. This was the largest of the territory's bond issues, creating $299,880,000 in debt.
At first, for the relatively minor amount of money to be repaid in 2000 ($3.6 million), the interest rate was 4.20 percent. For the bonds in this series maturing in 2029, the rate is 6.125 percent; in that year, repayment of $21.1 million of the principal will be due.
The backloading of the bond issues contrasts with what families face when they take out a mortgage to buy a house. Typically the payment, both interest and principal, is fixed at the same dollar amount for the life of the mortgage, with the hope that inflation will make it easier to pay in the "out years," as compared to the initial ones. This system is not used for state and municipal bonds generally.
Bond repayment schedule
The V.I. government's bond repayment schedule over the next 27 years, excluding interest, looks like this:
Year – Principal
2002 – $27.2 million
2003 – $28.1 million
2004 – $29.6 million
2005 – $31.4 million
2006 – $29.3 million
2007 – $31.0 million
2008 – $97.7 million
2009 – $33.8 million
2010 – $35.7 million
2011 – $37.6 million
2012 – $39.8 million
2013 – $39.0 million
2014 – $41.2 million
2015 – $43.8 million
2016 – $46.2 million
2017 – $49.0 million
2018 – $47.9 million
2019 – $50.6 million
2020 – $52.3 million
2021 – $57.0 million
2022 – $34.4 million
2023 – $19.0 million
2024 – $45.7 million
2025 – $28.8 million
2026 – $19.8 million
2027 – $21.1 million
2028 – $22.4 million
2029 – $22.9 million
The figure for 2008 is significantly higher because the 1984 bond issue of the V.I. Public Works Acceleration Authority, according to Mergent, all matures in that year. Typically, the repayment of bond issues is spread over several years, but the document does not indicate that this is the case.
The repayment figures above do not include the recent tobacco bond issue and do not include any interest payments. They assume no new bond issues in the next 27 years. They also assume that the V.I. government will pay off all the bonds as they become due, rather than rolling them over for later payment. The calculations are exclusively for the territory’s bonded debt and do not cover at least $400 million in other, unbonded debts.

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Oct. 10, 2002 – What costs Virgin Islands taxpayers the most money — police services, the health system, or interest on the territory’s bonded debt?
The Police Department budget for Fiscal Year 2003 is $38 million.
That for the Health Department is $27.2 million.
The current annual interest on the bonded debt is about equal to those two amounts combined, approximately $65.6 million.
This figure is calculated from data published by Mergent, the successor to Moody’s, the long-established financial reporting organization. The information is public record, with funding allocated in the V.I. government's annual budget and documented in its financial statements. It also can be accessed in any good-sized public library.
The $65.6 million is the interest — without any repayment of principal — on the territory’s $1 billion-plus bonded debt. (See "V.I. bonded debt soars to more than $1 billion".)
In terms of bond debt repayment, Mergent indicates that the territory is scheduled to repay about $27.2 million during 2002.
Thus, the territory's total bill this year for its bonds will be around $92.8 million.
The $65.6 million also does not include the interest on the recently floated $21.7 million in bonds against future tobacco revenues, which has not yet been reported by Mergent.
While Mergent does not publish dollar figures on interest owed, it does show the size of bonds, when they are due, and the interest rates for various time periods. Calculations based on those figures for the Virgin Islands make the current annual interest payment about $65.6 million.
On average, the V.I. bond issues cost a little over 6 percent a year. That's a relatively low rate — because the interest on the bonds is exempt from both U.S. and state income taxes, and because interest rates in general have been relatively low in recent years.
The territory's bonded debt is, in the words of Wall Street, "backloaded," with most principal repayments scheduled for the "out years" — the latter end of the repayment period — and with interest rates rising as the years pass. Many of the government officials who created these debts will be long gone when it comes time for the biggest bills to be paid.
In terms of debt repayment, Mergent indicates that the repayment figures will steadily rise from this year's $27.2 million until peaking at $57 million in the year 2021.
Note, however: The repayment of the bonded debt will peak in 2021 only if the territory does not borrow one more cent in the ensuing years. That would be two decades of fiscal restraint markedly different from the last few years, in which the territory's bonded debt has more than doubled, from $510,255,000 reported in Mergent at the end of 1997 to the current total (including the tobacco funds loan) of $1,069,664,000.
Along with principal repayments, the interest charges also are backloaded, to some extent. These charges rise with the passage of time, as the bonds issued by the V.I. Public Finance Authority in its Series 1999-A illustrate. This was the largest of the territory's bond issues, creating $299,880,000 in debt.
At first, for the relatively minor amount of money to be repaid in 2000 ($3.6 million), the interest rate was 4.20 percent. For the bonds in this series maturing in 2029, the rate is 6.125 percent; in that year, repayment of $21.1 million of the principal will be due.
The backloading of the bond issues contrasts with what families face when they take out a mortgage to buy a house. Typically the payment, both interest and principal, is fixed at the same dollar amount for the life of the mortgage, with the hope that inflation will make it easier to pay in the "out years," as compared to the initial ones. This system is not used for state and municipal bonds generally.
Bond repayment schedule
The V.I. government's bond repayment schedule over the next 27 years, excluding interest, looks like this:
Year – Principal
2002 – $27.2 million
2003 – $28.1 million
2004 – $29.6 million
2005 – $31.4 million
2006 – $29.3 million
2007 – $31.0 million
2008 – $97.7 million
2009 – $33.8 million
2010 – $35.7 million
2011 – $37.6 million
2012 – $39.8 million
2013 – $39.0 million
2014 – $41.2 million
2015 – $43.8 million
2016 – $46.2 million
2017 – $49.0 million
2018 – $47.9 million
2019 – $50.6 million
2020 – $52.3 million
2021 – $57.0 million
2022 – $34.4 million
2023 – $19.0 million
2024 – $45.7 million
2025 – $28.8 million
2026 – $19.8 million
2027 – $21.1 million
2028 – $22.4 million
2029 – $22.9 million
The figure for 2008 is significantly higher because the 1984 bond issue of the V.I. Public Works Acceleration Authority, according to Mergent, all matures in that year. Typically, the repayment of bond issues is spread over several years, but the document does not indicate that this is the case.
The repayment figures above do not include the recent tobacco bond issue and do not include any interest payments. They assume no new bond issues in the next 27 years. They also assume that the V.I. government will pay off all the bonds as they become due, rather than rolling them over for later payment. The calculations are exclusively for the territory’s bonded debt and do not cover at least $400 million in other, unbonded debts.

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Oct. 10, 2002 – While national statistics from the 2000 Census reflect the lowest child poverty rate in 20 years, the percentage of Virgin Islands children in families with incomes below the poverty line increased in the 1990s, from 37 percent to 42 percent.
And more than half of the territory's population is under the age of 19, which is much higher than the national average.
These are the fundamental findings of a report based on 2000 Census statistics that was released Thursday by the Community Foundation of the Virgin Islands.
The report, "A First Look at Children in the U.S. Virgin Islands," shows that 45 percent of children under the age of 5 were found to be living in poverty.
The rising poverty rate occurred at a time when the actual number of children in the territory dropped by 3 percent, with the largest decrease among children under age 5. The Census figures also reflect rising poverty among V.I. families overall, many of them headed by single mothers, with one quarter of all households having an income of no more than $10,000 a year.
Families in poverty with a female head of household "became a more important issue in the Virgin Islands between 1990 and 2000 for two reasons," the report states:
– The proportion of single-parent families rose significantly in the 1990s, from 37 percent to 46 percent in the territory, while the national rate for 2000 was 22 percent.
– The rate of poverty among such families also rose in the territory.
According to the report, 57 percent of Virgin Islands families headed by women with children under age 5 were poor in 1999. Poverty in the report is defined as $16,895 for a family of two adults and two children.
Researchers said the impact of poverty is the greatest on the island of St. Croix, where the economy is the weakest, even among working families. The 2000 Census found that in Frederiksted, 71 percent of homes were headed by a single parent and 68 percent of children were living in poverty.
Policy needs for an exceptionally young population
The researchers who compiled the report cited concern over statistics showing the relative youth of the territory's population, with 53 percent of the territory's inhabitants age 18 or under. This percentage of young people is significantly higher than the national average.
"The findings are deeply disturbing, and the trends are alarming," CFVI board member Alda Monsanto said.
The authors of the report called on public officials and the community at large to utilize the information presented to foster public policy and to reforms the human services system to meet the needs of the territory's youth. Services are especially needed to keep young people in school and to help breadwinners find affordable day care, the said.
Ira Cuttler of Cornerstone Consulting Group pointed to figures in the "First Look" report on the number of children with one or both parents working outside the home. Seven out of ten parents are out earning the daily bread, and in many cases children are home alone, which Cuttler said raises safety and child-development concerns.
Some of the people attending the Thursday morning press conference called to release the report to the public challenged the idea that children raised in poverty will threaten society by becoming anti-social. "I was a poor child, but I ate well and I grew up to be a disciplined, well-behaved child," Krim Ballentine said.
Carol Lotz, representing the Friends of the St. Thomas Libraries, said focusing on statistics alone is developing public policy is "not really realistic. They're just useful when writing grants."
Monsanto, who helps to compile the foundation's annual Kids Count reports on the status of children in the Virgin Islands, said after Thursday's press meeting that the best she can hope for is that the "First Look" report will form the basis for public debate on the issue of child poverty in the territory.
As a child, Monsanto said, she, too, lived in poverty, in a two-room wooden house with kerosene lamps and a night soil pan. But "those standards were acceptable" at that time, she pointed out. "Now, these standards are no longer acceptable. I am not going back to the kerosene lamp. We're not going back to the outhouse."

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Oct. 10, 2002 – While national statistics from the 2000 Census reflect the lowest child poverty rate in 20 years, the percentage of Virgin Islands children in families with incomes below the poverty line increased in the 1990s, from 37 percent to 42 percent.
And more than half of the territory's population is under the age of 19, which is much higher than the national average.
These are the fundamental findings of a report based on 2000 Census statistics that was released Thursday by the Community Foundation of the Virgin Islands.
The report, "A First Look at Children in the U.S. Virgin Islands," shows that 45 percent of children under the age of 5 were found to be living in poverty.
The rising poverty rate occurred at a time when the actual number of children in the territory dropped by 3 percent, with the largest decrease among children under age 5. The Census figures also reflect rising poverty among V.I. families overall, many of them headed by single mothers, with one quarter of all households having an income of no more than $10,000 a year.
Families in poverty with a female head of household "became a more important issue in the Virgin Islands between 1990 and 2000 for two reasons," the report states:
– The proportion of single-parent families rose significantly in the 1990s, from 37 percent to 46 percent in the territory, while the national rate for 2000 was 22 percent.
– The rate of poverty among such families also rose in the territory.
According to the report, 57 percent of Virgin Islands families headed by women with children under age 5 were poor in 1999. Poverty in the report is defined as $16,895 for a family of two adults and two children.
Researchers said the impact of poverty is the greatest on the island of St. Croix, where the economy is the weakest, even among working families. The 2000 Census found that in Frederiksted, 71 percent of homes were headed by a single parent and 68 percent of children were living in poverty.
Policy needs for an exceptionally young population
The researchers who compiled the report cited concern over statistics showing the relative youth of the territory's population, with 53 percent of the territory's inhabitants age 18 or under. This percentage of young people is significantly higher than the national average.
"The findings are deeply disturbing, and the trends are alarming," CFVI board member Alda Monsanto said.
The authors of the report called on public officials and the community at large to utilize the information presented to foster public policy and to reforms the human services system to meet the needs of the territory's youth. Services are especially needed to keep young people in school and to help breadwinners find affordable day care, the said.
Ira Cuttler of Cornerstone Consulting Group pointed to figures in the "First Look" report on the number of children with one or both parents working outside the home. Seven out of ten parents are out earning the daily bread, and in many cases children are home alone, which Cuttler said raises safety and child-development concerns.
Some of the people attending the Thursday morning press conference called to release the report to the public challenged the idea that children raised in poverty will threaten society by becoming anti-social. "I was a poor child, but I ate well and I grew up to be a disciplined, well-behaved child," Krim Ballentine said.
Carol Lotz, representing the Friends of the St. Thomas Libraries, said focusing on statistics alone is developing public policy is "not really realistic. They're just useful when writing grants."
Monsanto, who helps to compile the foundation's annual Kids Count reports on the status of children in the Virgin Islands, said after Thursday's press meeting that the best she can hope for is that the "First Look" report will form the basis for public debate on the issue of child poverty in the territory.
As a child, Monsanto said, she, too, lived in poverty, in a two-room wooden house with kerosene lamps and a night soil pan. But "those standards were acceptable" at that time, she pointed out. "Now, these standards are no longer acceptable. I am not going back to the kerosene lamp. We're not going back to the outhouse."

Publisher's note : Like the St. John Source now? Find out how you can love us twice as much — and show your support for the islands' free and independent news voice … click here.

Oct. 10, 2002 – While national statistics from the 2000 Census reflect the lowest child poverty rate in 20 years, the percentage of Virgin Islands children in families with incomes below the poverty line increased in the 1990s, from 37 percent to 42 percent.
And more than half of the territory's population is under the age of 19, which is much higher than the national average.
These are the fundamental findings of a report based on 2000 Census statistics that was released Thursday by the Community Foundation of the Virgin Islands.
The report, "A First Look at Children in the U.S. Virgin Islands," shows that 45 percent of children under the age of 5 were found to be living in poverty.
The rising poverty rate occurred at a time when the actual number of children in the territory dropped by 3 percent, with the largest decrease among children under age 5. The Census figures also reflect rising poverty among V.I. families overall, many of them headed by single mothers, with one quarter of all households having an income of no more than $10,000 a year.
Families in poverty with a female head of household "became a more important issue in the Virgin Islands between 1990 and 2000 for two reasons," the report states:
– The proportion of single-parent families rose significantly in the 1990s, from 37 percent to 46 percent in the territory, while the national rate for 2000 was 22 percent.
– The rate of poverty among such families also rose in the territory.
According to the report, 57 percent of Virgin Islands families headed by women with children under age 5 were poor in 1999. Poverty in the report is defined as $16,895 for a family of two adults and two children.
Researchers said the impact of poverty is the greatest on the island of St. Croix, where the economy is the weakest, even among working families. The 2000 Census found that in Frederiksted, 71 percent of homes were headed by a single parent and 68 percent of children were living in poverty.
Policy needs for an exceptionally young population
The researchers who compiled the report cited concern over statistics showing the relative youth of the territory's population, with 53 percent of the territory's inhabitants age 18 or under. This percentage of young people is significantly higher than the national average.
"The findings are deeply disturbing, and the trends are alarming," CFVI board member Alda Monsanto said.
The authors of the report called on public officials and the community at large to utilize the information presented to foster public policy and to reforms the human services system to meet the needs of the territory's youth. Services are especially needed to keep young people in school and to help breadwinners find affordable day care, the said.
Ira Cuttler of Cornerstone Consulting Group pointed to figures in the "First Look" report on the number of children with one or both parents working outside the home. Seven out of ten parents are out earning the daily bread, and in many cases children are home alone, which Cuttler said raises safety and child-development concerns.
Some of the people attending the Thursday morning press conference called to release the report to the public challenged the idea that children raised in poverty will threaten society by becoming anti-social. "I was a poor child, but I ate well and I grew up to be a disciplined, well-behaved child," Krim Ballentine said.
Carol Lotz, representing the Friends of the St. Thomas Libraries, said focusing on statistics alone is developing public policy is "not really realistic. They're just useful when writing grants."
Monsanto, who helps to compile the foundation's annual Kids Count reports on the status of children in the Virgin Islands, said after Thursday's press meeting that the best she can hope for is that the "First Look" report will form the basis for public debate on the issue of child poverty in the territory.
As a child, Monsanto said, she, too, lived in poverty, in a two-room wooden house with kerosene lamps and a night soil pan. But "those standards were acceptable" at that time, she pointed out. "Now, these standards are no longer acceptable. I am not going back to the kerosene lamp. We're not going back to the outhouse."

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Oct. 10, 2002 – Parents concerned about children with behavior problems are invited to hear more about a new drive to curb juvenile delinquency that involves baseball, on Saturday morning at Chase Auditorium on the University of the Virgin Islands campus.
A program called St. Thomas Baseball Explorers will be introduced. Social workers, prosecutors and attorneys from the territorial Public Defender's Office are expected to be on hand to explain what parents and their youngsters can expect if misbehavior or experimentation with drugs leads to a brush with the law. Attendees also will have the chance to view a series of videos on the subject of juvenile delinquency.
"This provides an excellent opportunity for parents to ask the most important questions and really understand what will confront their children if they become involved in any level of crime," attorney Fred Vialet Jr. said. Vialet chairs the board of the Beyond Visions Foundation, the organizer of the Saturday forum.
According to Michael Bute, president of Baseball Explorers, the organization's program utilizes sports as an outlet and an incentive for youngsters who need encouragement to improve their grades and their discipline. "The St. Thomas Baseball Explorers Inc. focuses on the development of baseball skills as a tool to improve the physical and academic skill of youth, especially for those who may be potentially high-risk for unacceptable behavior," Bute said.
The presentation is from 9 a.m. to noon. It is being made possible by a grant from the Law Enforcement Planning Commission.

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Oct. 10, 2002 – A striking Innovative Communication Corp. employee broke picket lines Thursday, but instead of returning to work, he wound up behind bars.
Police arrested Glen Freeman around 9 a.m. near Innovative headquarters at Beltgen Place on St. Thomas. According to Police Chief Novelle Francis, he was apprehended after he allegedly took a bag of tools from the vehicle of an Innovative Telephone employee working to repair phone lines damaged in a recent spate of vandalism.
Francis said Freeman, 37, was at first suspected of being involved in the vandalism that has caused disruptions to phone service affecting thousands of customers in the last week. "His name originally came in as the vandal," the police chief said Thursday night. "But that's a negative, as far as I know."
Freeman, the only person arrested to date in connection with the eight-day-old strike by United Steelworkers union members against Innovative Telephone and Innovative Cable-TV, was charged with grand larceny, Francis said.
Since Oct. 3, service has been cut to more than 4,000 residential and business phone lines on St. Croix and St. Thomas because of vandalism, according to Innovative. The company had said that as of Wednesday night the phone system was 99 percent restored, but that picture changed on Thursday morning, Innovative said, when vandals damaged three cables in the vicinity of Joseph Gomez Elementary School on St. Thomas, cutting service to about 1,000 subscribers in the Anna's Retreat, Wintberg, St. Joseph and Rosendahl, and Mandahl areas.
In a release issued Thursday evening, Innovative Telephone's chief executive officer, Samuel Ebbesen, termed the action sabotage and said repair crews hoped to have service restored within 12 hours.
Some 310 unionized telephone and cable-television employees went on strike last week when negotiations over renewal of their three-year contract broke down, primarily because of rank and file dissatisfaction with ICC's benefits package.
Innovative management, until Thursday, was tight-lipped about the details of the company's final offer — in keeping with ground rules of the negotiation process, Innovative Telephone spokesman Thomas Dunn said last week.
But "because of the many inaccurate and misleading public statements now being made, we no longer feel that this is prudent," company officials said in a statement published in full-page advertisements in The Avis and The Virgin Islands Daily News on Thursday.
According to the ad, ICC's final offer to the Steelworkers included a choice of two options regarding wages and pension: wage increases of 10 percent over three years with an increase in pension benefits of 3.7 percent; or wage increases of 6 percent over three years and an increase of pension benefits of 7.41 percent.
Innovative said the offer stands as such because union members in past negotiations opted for higher wage increases rather than a boost to pension benefits.
"Now they want, in one contract period, to retroactively make up for what was not bargained for in the past," the ad read. "This is in addition to the usual wage increases. Innovative is unwilling to make pension promises that may not be feasible in the long run."
A footnote in the ad said that, "based on the average current age and service time of the bargaining unit employees, they will be eligible for retirement at age 58 with a benefit of $810 per month before the current increases."
Other terms of Innovative's offer include an increase in insurance deductibles, a life insurance benefit increase of 16.67 percent and an additional 15 sick days.
On Oct. 16 and 17, a federal mediator will sit down with both sides in an effort to work out their differences. Innovative has said its final offer is on the table. The union membership rejected that offer in ratification votes on Oct. 1 and went on strike the following day.

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Oct. 10, 2002 – A striking Innovative Communication Corp. employee broke picket lines Thursday, but instead of returning to work, he wound up behind bars.
Police arrested Glen Freeman around 9 a.m. near Innovative headquarters at Beltgen Place on St. Thomas. According to Police Chief Novelle Francis, he was apprehended after he allegedly took a bag of tools from the vehicle of an Innovative Telephone employee working to repair phone lines damaged in a recent spate of vandalism.
Francis said Freeman, 37, was at first suspected of being involved in the vandalism that has caused disruptions to phone service affecting thousands of customers in the last week. "His name originally came in as the vandal," the police chief said Thursday night. "But that's a negative, as far as I know."
Freeman, the only person arrested to date in connection with the eight-day-old strike by United Steelworkers union members against Innovative Telephone and Innovative Cable-TV, was charged with grand larceny, Francis said.
Since Oct. 3, service has been cut to more than 4,000 residential and business phone lines on St. Croix and St. Thomas because of vandalism, according to Innovative. The company had said that as of Wednesday night the phone system was 99 percent restored, but that picture changed on Thursday morning, Innovative said, when vandals damaged three cables in the vicinity of Joseph Gomez Elementary School on St. Thomas, cutting service to about 1,000 subscribers in the Anna's Retreat, Wintberg, St. Joseph and Rosendahl, and Mandahl areas.
In a release issued Thursday evening, Innovative Telephone's chief executive officer, Samuel Ebbesen, termed the action sabotage and said repair crews hoped to have service restored within 12 hours.
Some 310 unionized telephone and cable-television employees went on strike last week when negotiations over renewal of their three-year contract broke down, primarily because of rank and file dissatisfaction with ICC's benefits package.
Innovative management, until Thursday, was tight-lipped about the details of the company's final offer — in keeping with ground rules of the negotiation process, Innovative Telephone spokesman Thomas Dunn said last week.
But "because of the many inaccurate and misleading public statements now being made, we no longer feel that this is prudent," company officials said in a statement published in full-page advertisements in The Avis and The Virgin Islands Daily News on Thursday.
According to the ad, ICC's final offer to the Steelworkers included a choice of two options regarding wages and pension: wage increases of 10 percent over three years with an increase in pension benefits of 3.7 percent; or wage increases of 6 percent over three years and an increase of pension benefits of 7.41 percent.
Innovative said the offer stands as such because union members in past negotiations opted for higher wage increases rather than a boost to pension benefits.
"Now they want, in one contract period, to retroactively make up for what was not bargained for in the past," the ad read. "This is in addition to the usual wage increases. Innovative is unwilling to make pension promises that may not be feasible in the long run."
A footnote in the ad said that, "based on the average current age and service time of the bargaining unit employees, they will be eligible for retirement at age 58 with a benefit of $810 per month before the current increases."
Other terms of Innovative's offer include an increase in insurance deductibles, a life insurance benefit increase of 16.67 percent and an additional 15 sick days.
On Oct. 16 and 17, a federal mediator will sit down with both sides in an effort to work out their differences. Innovative has said its final offer is on the table. The union membership rejected that offer in ratification votes on Oct. 1 and went on strike the following day.

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Oct. 10, 2002 – A striking Innovative Communication Corp. employee broke picket lines Thursday, but instead of returning to work, he wound up behind bars.
Police arrested Glen Freeman around 9 a.m. near Innovative headquarters at Beltgen Place on St. Thomas. According to Police Chief Novelle Francis, he was apprehended after he allegedly took a bag of tools from the vehicle of an Innovative Telephone employee working to repair phone lines damaged in a recent spate of vandalism.
Francis said Freeman, 37, was at first suspected of being involved in the vandalism that has caused disruptions to phone service affecting thousands of customers in the last week. "His name originally came in as the vandal," the police chief said Thursday night. "But that's a negative, as far as I know."
Freeman, the only person arrested to date in connection with the eight-day-old strike by United Steelworkers union members against Innovative Telephone and Innovative Cable-TV, was charged with grand larceny, Francis said.
Since Oct. 3, service has been cut to more than 4,000 residential and business phone lines on St. Croix and St. Thomas because of vandalism, according to Innovative. The company had said that as of Wednesday night the phone system was 99 percent restored, but that picture changed on Thursday morning, Innovative said, when vandals damaged three cables in the vicinity of Joseph Gomez Elementary School on St. Thomas, cutting service to about 1,000 subscribers in the Anna's Retreat, Wintberg, St. Joseph and Rosendahl, and Mandahl areas.
In a release issued Thursday evening, Innovative Telephone's chief executive officer, Samuel Ebbesen, termed the action sabotage and said repair crews hoped to have service restored within 12 hours.
Some 310 unionized telephone and cable-television employees went on strike last week when negotiations over renewal of their three-year contract broke down, primarily because of rank and file dissatisfaction with ICC's benefits package.
Innovative management, until Thursday, was tight-lipped about the details of the company's final offer — in keeping with ground rules of the negotiation process, Innovative Telephone spokesman Thomas Dunn said last week.
But "because of the many inaccurate and misleading public statements now being made, we no longer feel that this is prudent," company officials said in a statement published in full-page advertisements in The Avis and The Virgin Islands Daily News on Thursday.
According to the ad, ICC's final offer to the Steelworkers included a choice of two options regarding wages and pension: wage increases of 10 percent over three years with an increase in pension benefits of 3.7 percent; or wage increases of 6 percent over three years and an increase of pension benefits of 7.41 percent.
Innovative said the offer stands as such because union members in past negotiations opted for higher wage increases rather than a boost to pension benefits.
"Now they want, in one contract period, to retroactively make up for what was not bargained for in the past," the ad read. "This is in addition to the usual wage increases. Innovative is unwilling to make pension promises that may not be feasible in the long run."
A footnote in the ad said that, "based on the average current age and service time of the bargaining unit employees, they will be eligible for retirement at age 58 with a benefit of $810 per month before the current increases."
Other terms of Innovative's offer include an increase in insurance deductibles, a life insurance benefit increase of 16.67 percent and an additional 15 sick days.
On Oct. 16 and 17, a federal mediator will sit down with both sides in an effort to work out their differences. Innovative has said its final offer is on the table. The union membership rejected that offer in ratification votes on Oct. 1 and went on strike the following day.

Publisher's note : Like the St. Croix Source now? Find out how you can love us twice as much — and show your support for the islands' free and independent news voice … click here.