Territorial Court Judge Brenda Hollar said Tuesday she was having a hard time understanding the income-tax refund law that brought Sen. Adlah “Foncie” Donastorg and the administration to court.
Donastorg filed suit in January 1998 to force the Schneider administration to set aside 4.5 percent of revenues each month to pay tax refunds. The administration has asked Hollar to dismiss the suit.
The law may be vague as to whether the executive branch is required to actually set aside the money or keep an accounting of how much it should be.
Hollar said there is not enough money in the separate account, established to comply with the law, to cover tax refunds, according to the Daily News.
Though Hollar didn't rule Tuesday, Donastorg thinks it the suit will go forward. He said the suit has merit and “no amount of legal maneuvering can change that.”
The amount of the set-aside has been legally increased to 10 percent since the suit was originally filed, thanks to legislation sponsored by Donastorg.
The administration’s attorney, Hugh A. Greentree, argued that the law’s intention is to provide an accounting of the money, not to actually set it aside.
Greentree told Hollar he didn’t know if any ledger had been kept.