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?