St. Croix Retirees ‘Welcome’ Mapp’s $300 Million G.E.R.S. Proposal, Government House Says

ST. CROIX — Government retirees on the island of St. Croix are said to be welcoming Governor Kenneth Mapp’s proposals to shore up the Government Employees Retirement System (GERS).

According to a Government House release, Mr. Mapp met with members of St. Croix Government Retirees Inc. (SCGR) at Gertrude’s Restaurant in Estate Castle Coakley on Friday to discuss the recently approved agreements with Limetree Bay Terminals, LLC, to resume oil refining operations on St. Croix as well as his related proposals to add more solvent years to GERS.

The landmark agreement, ratified by the 32nd Legislature on July 25 as Bill No. 32-0246, is expected to create an estimated 1,300 construction jobs and as many as 700 long-term positions in addition to the hundreds of Virgin Islanders already employed at Limetree’s oil terminal storage facility.

Mr. Mapp’s GERS proposal, which is yet to be ratified by the Legislature, includes directing half of all revenue generated by the refinery deal to GERS as a significant cash infusion that is necessary for the system to remain solvent.

Breakdown of What GERS is Slated to Receive from the Deal

• 50 percent of annual revenues from refining operations
• $25 million down-payment from PFA (comes out of the $70 million down payment from ArcLight)
• 50 percent of Havensight Mall revenues
• Mortgage payments from PFA at 8 percent interest rate annually

Over the next 10 years, the Mapp administration projects that this will give the system a $380 million injection in total.

The governor thanked the group’s executive team, including second Vice President Debbie Christopher, for organizing the meeting and offering important feedback as they learned more about the administration’s priorities for the territory’s pensioners, according to Government House.

SCGR is a nonprofit organization whose main purpose is to develop, promote, coordinate, and implement programs and activities designed to ensure the perpetuity of GERS for the benefit of the current employees and the retirees of the system.