Government

$7.7 Million in Retroactive Payments to Current and Former Gov't Employees Made as of May 2022; $173 Million Still Owed

Last updated at 3:40 p.m. on Thursday, June 23, 2022. Division of Personnel Director Cindy Richardson told the Senate Committee on Finance Wednesday that the government of the Virgin Islands owes $173.17 million in retroactive payments to former and some current employees. Testifying before the committee, she said that one of her department's focuses last fiscal year, which got carried over into the 2023 fiscal year, is the repayment of retroactive payments to retirees over the age of 65 and survivors of deceased retirees. Ms. Richardson said that as of May 31, 2022, $7.7 million had been paid out to 4,600 individuals. “This payment impacted retirees who were owed past retroactive payments for the period of the Fiscal Year 1990 through Fiscal Year 2001,” she told the committee while giving testimony on Personnel's proposed fiscal year 2023 executive budget. Sharing more clarity on the payments, Cordell Rhymer Jr, chief of Human Resources at Personnel, said that the starting amount ...