Sen. Kenneth L. Gittens couldn’t help but praise the new Attorney General of the Virgin Islands, Ariel M. Smith, during Friday’s Committee on Budget, Appropriation, and Finance as she gave the rundown of plans for the medical examiner’s office and morgue on St. Croix.
The contractor has been funded less than requested for the morgue and the Department of Justice is currently awaiting assistance from the Office of Management and Budget pending allocation for the additional funding.
With $73,900 to date that has been expended for “carrier cost” to transport bodies from St. Croix to St. Thomas for autopsies, on top of the additional $114,330 cost of the autopsy, Sen. Javan James’ concern was if DOJ had enough funding for the remainder of the 2023 fiscal year.
Based on projections from the department, the rate of depletion for carrier cost funding may not last until the end of the 2023 fiscal year. Smith explained that a supplemental budget request has been submitted to OMB for consideration for the remaining average expected cost. Future plans to reduce overall costs include DOJ recruiting for a territorial examiner.
Smith stated that the contract of an examiner’s office on St. Croix is currently in the review and signing stages. Gittens was concerned with the outline of the building and cost, asking if the morgue would be placed in front of the facility. Luckily Smith assured the morgue modular would be placed elsewhere once the reconstruction is complete.
Gittens’s line of questioning included a discussion surrounding the settlement money received from the Epstein case and if the settlement funding was outlined “for specific use.” Of the $62.5 million received, “$15 million are earmarked for project services, counseling activities, mental health programs and services and facilities for the Virgin Island residence and inhabitance,” Smith said. The remaining $55 million is in the hands of the Department of Finance.
The department’s FY 2024 proposed budget request in the General Fund is $19,936,110, which is a 3.51 percent increase from last year’s appropriated budget of $19,260,621, and the overall budget, including federal funds, is $28,518,315, according to testimony.
Under the FY 2024 budget request, $4,265,848 has been allocated to “other services,” which includes rent, mortuary and testing services and other expenses directly related to Justice.
With $8,400,705 of the department’s budget funded by federal grants, many of the personnel services are supported by federal grants and program funds.
The department has also recently negotiated salary increases which include the Steelworkers International Union, Our Virgin Islands Labor Union, and employees covered by the General Services Pay Scale. All 30 SIU salaries have been increased to include back pay. However, non-union increases are unfortunately delayed. DOJ anticipates processing in the coming weeks, while OVILU is currently negotiating salary increases.
Overall, chairwoman Donna Frett-Gregory urged the department to submit the remainder of their supplemental budget requests so monies unable to be utilized in certain areas could be reallocated as the end of the 2023 fiscal year draws to a close.
Virgin Islands Army and Air National Guard
The Virgin Islands National Guard General Fund budget for FY 2024 is increased by half a million dollars due to the Youth About Face and Forward March Program and personnel services for a senior program analyst, two program specialists, program analysts, deputy program advisors, and the chief program coordinator.
The proposed budget for FY 2024 is $2,716,886 to execute the cost share of $679,616 of federal funds for the FY 2024 Master Cooperative Agreement Program. As outlined in the Master Cooperative Agreement, the territory is required to provide matching funds for expenditures that are not 100 percent federally funded. The proposed budget requested from the V.I. government is 19.4 times less than the federal projected contribution of $52,800,000.
The aforementioned figure includes the Miscellaneous Budget Appropriation of $60,000 for the Virgin Islands National Guard Pension Fund and $200,500 for the Youth About Face and Forward March Program.
Major General Kodjo S. Knox-Limbacker of the 15th Adjutant General and Commander of the Virgin Islands Army and Air National Guard stated that the majority of the National Guard workforce is part-time. The full-time National Guard’s capabilities are only realized once activated for Territorial Active Duty by the governor.
“This workforce is comprised of an Active Guard and Reserve force of 100 Army and 19 Air National Guard full-time employees. Additionally, we have a 100 percent federally funded Civilian Technician workforce consisting of 158 full-time employees,” said Knox-Limbacker.
A military workforce of 718 servicemembers. There is a reduction of soldiers from 779 to 623 Soldiers and an increase of 22 Airmen from 73 to 95 Airmen with the addition of a Security Force Flight.
The total overall from the General Fund budget is $1,087,390 for personnel, $488,881 for fringe benefits, $124,450 for supplies, and $220,346 for capital projects.
Sens. Donna Frett-Gregory, Novelle Francis, Marvin Blyden, Javan James, Carla Joseph, Ray Fonseca, Dwayne DeGraff, Kenneth Gittens, Marise James, and Samuel Carrion were present at Friday’s hearing.
