Testimony
Committee on Rules and Judiciary Hearing Testimony
Committee on Rules and Judiciary Hearing of
February 23, 2017
Chairman: Senator Novelle E. Francis, Jr.
Vice-Chairman: Senator Jean Forde
Fritz E. Lawaetz Legislative Hall
St. Croix, Virgin Islands
Testimony From The St. Croix Government Retirees, Inc
Good Afternoon Senators of the 32nd Legislature:
St. Croix Government Retirees, Inc. (SCGR) is an organization of V I Government retirees dedicated to the preservation of the Government Employees Retirement System (GERS). The SCGR was organized four years ago and was registered as a non-profit organization in February of 2013.
The members of the St. Croix Government Retirees, are very concerned about the ever increasing cost of living in the Virgin Islands. As senior citizens with unchanging incomes, the proposed increases in property taxes threaten to badly affect many of us. As we are all aware, the cost of almost everything else is also going up.
Our organization visited most of the senators in the 31st Legislature and requested that retroactive wages that have been owed for over 20 years be applied to offset our property and income tax bills. Although several senators saw the fairness in our proposal, nothing ever came of it. Now we are facing the loss of the tax credits that lowered property tax bills to an affordable amount for many. The loss of the veterans' tax credit is especially painful considering what our veterans have been through on our behalf.
As in our testimony last week at the Finance Committee Hearing in St. Thomas, The St. Croix Government Retirees again ask you, our representatives, to consider our vulnerable situation. After a lifetime of work and contribution to our communities in the Virgin Islands, we are facing the loss of all we worked for. Bill number 32-0007 may cause the loss of property to some, while the others will be forced to live without basic needs in order to keep their homes. When you consider the dire state of the GERS, it is clear that these are not exaggerations.
The St. Croix Government Retirees strongly urge that you also consider the eminent collapsed of the GERS and the dire consequences to all if this is allowed to happen. A percentage of all funds coming to the Virgin Islands Government should be designated to the GERS with no possibility of being withheld or used for other purposes.
Respectfully submitted by
The St. Croix Government Retirees, Inc.
Phyllis M. Nehlsen, Advocacy Committee Chairperson
Phone : 340-718-5027
Email: neh50sen@gmail.com
Mailing Address: PO Box 749, Christiansted, V.I. 00821
