WAPA Proposes 11% Property-Tax Share and Customer Surcharge for Streetlights; Says $2M Annual Funding Falls Short of $7.5M Cost

The V.I. Water and Power Authority says the territory’s current street-lighting funding structure is unsustainable, with roughly $2 million in annual property-tax funding available for a service that WAPA says costs approximately $7.5 million each year. During the authority’s budget hearing Wednesday, Executive Director Karl Knight told the Committee on Budget, Appropriations and Finance that “funding is insufficient to energize, repair, and maintain existing streetlights, let alone support new installations.” WAPA is proposing that the statutory share of property-tax revenue dedicated to street lighting be increased from 4 percent to 11 percent, which Knight said would raise approximately $5.5 million annually. The authority also intends to petition the Public Services Commission to “add a customer surcharge of approximately $0.0033 to generate $2 million to cover the cost of street lighting energy consumption.” Together, those proposals are aimed at correcting what Knight describ...