July 7, 2008 — Department representatives from Licensing and Consumer Affairs discussed the agency's budget in the Legislature Monday, and also fielded questions on repairs to Vendors Plaza, how much money the agency has left over from the current budget and other topics.
Continued spikes in local gas prices were a major bone of contention for senators as department officials appeared before the Senate's Finance Committee to
defend and answer questions about their recommended fiscal year 2009 budget appropriation. Senators questioned why the numbers keep going up in spite of a recently issued order stating that all wholesalers and retailers must receive permission from DLCA before increasing fuel prices.
Stations around the territory have received approval after submitting information justifying the need for an increase, said DLCA Commissioner Kenrick Robertson.
Debate sparked on the floor after one DLCA official said efforts to regulate taxi and tour operations at the new Crown Bay Center are meeting with opposition from local dock masters. DLCA enforcement officers have been handing out citations to operators violating a concession agreement currently in place between the V.I. Port Authority and one local taxi company, but continuously have the dock masters "jumping down their throats," because of it, according to Judith Wheatley, head of the department's Taxi Cab Division.
"There is a conflict with the V.I. Port Authority here that is a concern," she said. "The dock masters have their own little agreements going on."
While the Taxi Cab Division is currently in the process of transitioning back into the once-controversial Taxi Cab Commission, an investigation on illegal taxi licenses is still in full force, Wheatley said. Most recently the agency discovered that many operators had been granted "asylee status," meaning they have been deemed legal resident aliens by federal authorities, she said. By law, taxi operators must be legal residents of the Virgin Islands and should have been driving in the territory for at least a year, officials said later.
"This status is good until their papers come through, which could take a year or more," Wheatley explained. "However, we've also discovered that many individuals, such as many of the Haitian nationals, have unlimited asylee status and employment authorization. This presents a conflict for us."
Wheatley's statements were a little "hard to swallow," some senators said.
"These statements really stand out," said Finance Committee chairman Sen. Terrence "Positive" Nelson. "If these individuals are in competition with legal residents from the territory, then that's a very, very big problem. And if U.S. Immigration, who has oversight and should be protecting our borders, is giving this status to people who just come into the territory, then that tells us that we have some decisions to make as to our status. We should drag the delegate, drag the governor into this, because this doesn't sound good."
Getting back to the subject of the meeting, the budget, DLCA officials said they could work with its recommended $3.7 million General Fund appropriation, of which about 82 percent — or nearly $3.1 million — goes toward personnel services and associated fringe benefits. The remaining $652,300 covers rent, utilities and other operating costs.
The $468,164 increase over this year's appropriation would go toward communications ($60,000), rent ($91,000) and vehicle insurance ($44,000) expenses.
Professional services contracts take up another $25,000, which will go toward continuing upgrades to the department's electronic-licensing system and the hiring of a consultant to help determine "reasonable" gross-profit margins for gasoline wholesalers and retailers doing business in the territory, according to Robertson.
DLCA is also slated to receive $683,969 from the Taxi License Fund and $400,000 from the Consumer Protection Fund, for an overall FY 2009 budget total of about $4.8 million. Another $1.4 million is earmarked for the Public Services Commission, which is included under DLCA for budgetary purposes only.
Representatives from the Public Employees Relations Board (PERB) also appeared during the first half of Monday's hearing to discuss an $830,000 FY 2009 budget request, which includes more than $400,000 for personnel services, $25,000 for professional services, $26,000 for communications costs and nearly $93,000 for rent, among other things.
V.I. Labor Management Committee representatives also requested a $165,000 budget appropriation.
Present during Monday's meeting were Sens. Liston Davis, Neville James, Nelson, Ronald E. Russell, James A. Weber III and Celestino A. White Sr.
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