Oct. 30, 2005 — Alberto Bruno-Vega, executive director of the Water and Power Authority, has been talking about it for weeks. Government House confirmed it Thursday.
The V.I. government is considering giving WAPA relief on its tax bills, if WAPA gives government departments relief on their power bills.
A press release from Government House Wednesday said the government has submitted a proposal to WAPA to offset an estimated $3.2 million owed by the Authority to the government for PILOT (Payment In Lieu of Taxes) against outstanding water and power balances owed by seven agencies.
A working group headed by Chief of Staff Juel T. R. Molloy and Administrator James A. O'Bryan Jr., the governor's liaison to WAPA, has been meeting in recent weeks with the seven identified agencies to address the obligation.
Nellon L. Bowry, WAPA's chief financial officer, advised O'Bryan on Oct. 21 that the governing board of WAPA would consider the government's proposal at its Nov. 3 meeting. With the offset, several agencies will have brought their obligations to WAPA current through the end of last month.
The proposal for offset against the PILOT included the following:
— V.I. National Guard $116,900.
— Property and Procurement $210,000.
— Housing, Parks, Recreation $ 11 8,678.
— Gov. Juan Luis Hospital $658,924.
— V.I. Police $514,348.
— Public Works Street lights $500,000.
— Department of Education $1 ,081,148.
O'Bryan added, "The governor also recently approved in the Omnibus Act of 2005, an additional $1.5 million for payment of WAPA's outstanding account balances. This settlement should be extremely helpful in clearing both the government's and WAPA's financial records."

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