Bryan submitted $1.22 billion FY 2021 executive budget proposal to Legislature

Gov. Albert Bryan Jr. submitted his fiscal year 2021 executive budget proposal to the 33rd Legislature on May 29, 2020, ahead of the May 31 legal deadline.

The proposal totaled $1,224,532,219, including $742,779,823 for the General Fund, $33,104,434 for other appropriated funds and $290,906,550 in non-disaster-related federal funds. Total appropriated funds, combining the General Fund and other appropriated funds, were $783,275,537.

The administration said projected revenues were down by $126 million from the fiscal year 2020 budget. Department expenditures for all funds, excluding cash transfers, contingencies and unappropriated balances, were projected at $1.22 billion for fiscal year 2021, compared with $1.41 billion for fiscal year 2020.

The proposal assumed declines from the fiscal year 2020 adopted budget in personal income tax, corporate income tax, real property tax and gross receipts tax collections.

The budget included $5 million for the Stabilization Fund, $1.5 million for scholarships, $5 million to fill critical vacancies, $1.475 million for Education Department General Fund capital projects, $7.2 million for mental health services in the Health Department, $42.7 million for Garvee bond highway projects and $270 million in federal funds for the COVID-19 response to be spent by the end of the first quarter.

Office of Management and Budget Director Jenifer O’Neal said the budget reflected cash shortages and reduced revenues tied to the COVID-19 pandemic and did not call for layoffs or workforce reductions. She also said the administration projected a $202 million loss in tourism-sector revenue in the second quarter of 2020.

The administration said the pandemic had also affected the territory’s hurricane recovery efforts and could delay the planned July 2020 reopening of the Limetree Bay refinery.

Official source: https://www.vi.gov/governor-bryan-delivers-fy-2021-executive-budget-proposal/