Screensho of GVI BUY's company registration screen.
The work of the Department of Property and Procurement is now conducted mainly online, and this will provide vendors of the department the ability to follow and observe the status of contracts and other activities in a transparent manner, according to Governor Albert Bryan.
“All government bid solicitations, contracts, purchase orders, and invoicing will be done transparently through that system which is now online. No longer will vendors be in the dark about the status of their invoices and when they are expected to be paid,” Mr. Bryan announced while delivering the 2022 State of the Territory address Monday night.
“We continue our commitment to increasing the efficiency and productivity of government through the use of technology. The Department of Property and Procurement will be aided in its efforts by the successful launch of its online procurement system, GVIBUY,” he said. According to the GVI Buy website, the platform goes live in February.
Last year, DPP executed 630 contracts totaling $482 million, resulting in a 200 percent increase in executed contracts. “As impressive as this increase is, we are predicting continued growth for the next several years as we expend the influx of hurricane and pandemic recovery funding,” the governor said.
He told the Legislature his administration prided itself on true belt-tightening and conservative financial forecasting and as a result, the government of the Virgin Islands continues to gain fiscal strength.
“Total tax revenues remained steady in Fiscal Year 2021 when compared to Fiscal Year 2020 at approximately $839 million. This is 10 percent greater than Fiscal Year 2019 and more than 30 percent greater than the revenues collected in Fiscal Year 2018,” he said while highlighting other achievements.
“Over the last three years of this Administration, we have seen the annual revenue collections exceed the revenue projections, creating budget surpluses that have not been seen in over 15 years, despite the pandemic,” the governor stated.
Claiming that the indebtedness of the government has reduced, and the prediction is for sustainable revenue, he said, “Furthermore, we have actually reduced the indebtedness of the government by over $500 million in the last three years. We have projected several factors that we believe will provide sustainability to our revenue picture over the coming year.”
Chief amongst these is the continuous and steady expenditure of disaster recovery funds, as many capital projects are completing the planning process and moving to construction. Sustained public-sector spending, in general, will be crucial to economic activity.
“We are anticipating greater economic certainty as we recover from the pandemic-related reduction in business activity and the related decrease in leisure spending. Our tourism market is also expected to come roaring back and remain robust over the next year as we add more cruise calls, flights, hotel rooms, and marine vessels to our product,” Mr. Bryan announced to the territory.
One of the avenues Mr. Bryan projected for revenue generation will be West Indian Petroleum, which on Tuesday successfully purchased the Limetree Bay Refinery. “We are working with them to not only safely open the refinery but to explore other potential uses for this sprawling industrial complex,” the governor said.
Mr. Bryan reminded that last year, the government settled the federal court case which held excise taxes in abeyance for three years. “The collection of those taxes, which did not play a role in our Administration’s prior budget submissions, has now been factored into our revenue projections, bolstering the financial position of the government,” he said.
