EDA Approves $213,500 Overhaul of 15-Year-Old Model Used to Weigh Tax Incentives

The V.I. Economic Development Authority will spend up to $213,500 to modernize a 15-year-old economic impact model used in evaluating tax-incentive applications, with plans to turn the updated system into a common analytical tool that can also be used by other government agencies and the University of the Virgin Islands. EDA Executive Director Wayne Biggs said the agency’s existing “input-output model” has not been updated in 15 years. The revised version would expand its use beyond VIEDA to the Enterprise Commission and potentially several entities outside the authority. “We’ve invited the Bureau of Economic Research, the Public Finance Authority, the Office of Management and Budget, and UVI to also be a part of this project,” Mr. Biggs said. “We’re trying to create a model that we all can use for the territory…so when we talk about economic impact, it’s one model that we’re using.” The model plays a role in EDA’s assessment of the economic costs and benefits associated with granti...