Virgin Islands Property Taxes

The decision came down last week. District Court Judge Curtis Gomez removed the injunction freezing property values in the Virgin Islands at their 1998 level. Property values and tax rates will stay the same for the 2007 - 2009 tax years, but may change for 2010 and later tax years. Based on a law passed in 2007, property taxes for 2010 and later tax years will be determined using the property's fair market value or a new tax rate structure.

Since the Government didn't issue tax bills for four years, while the property tax structure debate was ongoing, property owners will receive two property tax bills a year until the property tax bills are current. So, your 2010 tax bill with the new taxing structure will be issued in 2012.

If you have a problem with how your property value is calculated you can appeal to the Tax Review Board, which Judge Gomez ruled is functioning properly.

To find out more about the decision, check out the article in the Virgin Islands Daily News.

Property owners have had many complaints about the new taxing structure. One complaint that I heard over and over was about how the fair market value of properties here were calculated. First there were complaints about a stateside company coming down determining the property values. Many people said, how could someone from somewhere come here an determine how much our property is worth. -- I can't disagree.-- There were also complaints that the "formula" used to calculate property values took into consideration the value of your neighbors property. So, if you live in a shack on St. John that you inherited from your great grandmother and that hasn't had any major improvements and your neighbor has a $5 million home, the calculated value of your property increase. --I don't think that's fair"--

Now, I don't know much about the validity of the second complaint. I don't know how property values were computed, but it seems kind of unfair to tax someone out of their home because their neighbor has a big house. Personally, I like what I've heard they do in Florida. My mom lives there and she says that your property tax is based on the value of your home when you purchased or built it. A system like this might also be a great way to help pacify the native rights groups that believe that "native" Virgin Islanders shouldn't have to pay property taxes. I'm not saying that they shouldn't have to pay property tax, but if you inherit land the value of your property could be based on the value at the time it was initially purchased by your parent, grandparent or great grandparent. If you bought your house in 1973, the value of your home would be based on its 1973 value and if you built a $5 million mansion in 2010, your property value would be based on the $5 million value in 2010. That seems like a fair way to do it to me. What do you think?

My Only Option in the US Virgin Islands

When do you or should you make a complaint? Let's use a restaurant as an example. Let's say you go to a restaurant and order a burger. You tell the server that you want it cooked medium-well and to hold the mayo. The server brings you back a burnt burger with lots of mayo. In this situation there are some people who would complain to the server or manager and ask for a new burger. These people would wait for the new burger made to their liking and enjoy their meal. Then there are others who would salvage as much as they could and wait until they were leaving to say something to the waiter or manager. These people might worry that their server spit on their burger if they ask for a new one. I am usually one these people, I try to go along for as long as I can without making waves because I worry that if I make a big deal about something the person or organization that is suppose to help me might start dragging their feet or creating additional obstacles for me to get what I need.

Word on the street is that Scotiabank is the only bank on the island giving constructions loans, at least of the big banks on island, Banco Popular, First Bank and Scotiabank. And there is only one person at Scotiabank handling construction loans. So be prepared, it may be a delayed process. Do you know of any smaller banks or loan providers giving construction loans?

Get it?

Will We Be Left in the Dark?

I want a solar system!

(www.nasa.gov)

No, not that type of solar system, but this kind:

(http://www.squidoo.com/goingoffthegrid)

We are going to need power for our house. Paul had a friend who works for the Water and Power Authority (WAPA) give us an estimate of how much getting electric poles to our house is going to cost. He said about $20,000. That is alot of money. At least to me it is. I would prefer to get a solar power system. In fact our house was designed for it, but you know what is more expensive than getting power from WAPA? You guessed it, getting solar power. However, solar power does come with a federal tax credit and local rebates, but it would still require us to come up with the initial cash outlay. I don't know if we have it. I guess we might just have to live in the dark for a while. Another possibility is to find out if the people who own land next to us want power anytime soon and want to share in the cost of getting power from WAPA.

Do you have any ideas or suggestions or us?

Happy New Year!

Last year we got new plans drawn, got our building permit and started the application process for our construction loan. This year I want us to start and finish constructing our home. I think that is what I wanted for last year too. Hopefully it will actually happen this year. Wish us luck.