Joining the list of entities awaiting a more robust cash flow from central government in order to fulfill obligations is the Virgin Islands Career and Technical Education Board.
During a meeting on Wednesday, board chair Joane Murphy revealed that the entity was still waiting for “finances to open up” to “fulfill our promise of giving those teachers who are fully certified a $500 bonus….We're still waiting for our funding to materialize so we can make that happen,” she lamented.
Anton Döös, who chairs the board’s finance committee, remarked on the “slow” pace at which funds are being released through the ERP. Responding to Ms. Murphy’s query about how to speed up the process, Mr. Döös suggested that the only way to do so might be to “write a check to the VI government. Apparently they have no money.”
In his first press briefing for the year, Governor Albert Bryan Jr indicated that his administration would be exploring several avenues to secure necessary funding for government operations to hold over until tax season. One consideration was a new line of credit, expected to be discussed before a legislative session initially scheduled for January 17, however that meeting was subsequently postponed.
CTE board member and former senator, Genevieve Whitaker, noting that several agencies will be simultaneously clamoring for funding, encouraged the CTE board to get their affairs in order. “We're going to be in a situation where it's going to open up pretty soon,” she warned.
The governor, in his attempt to quell concerns over the government’s cash flow difficulties, assured Virgin Islanders that there was “absolutely no reason for alarm.” The fast-approaching tax season, he said, would provide sufficient revenues to ease the squeeze, so to speak. To help supplement the government’s coffers, Ms. Murphy encouraged “everyone who owes taxes, let’s pay those taxes.”
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