Bryan submitted $24.4 million supplemental budget request to 34th Legislature

Gov. Albert Bryan Jr. submitted a supplemental budget request to the 34th Legislature on August 13, 2021, seeking to appropriate $24,423,321 from the fiscal 2021 General Fund for 13 Virgin Islands government agencies and departments.

According to the transmittal letter to Senate President Donna Frett-Gregory, the money was proposed for outstanding workers' compensation payments, judgments and other vendor claims, repairs and improvements to parks and other public areas, and the purchase of a new St. Croix office for the lieutenant governor.

The request included $10 million in direct funding for the Government Employees Retirement System. Other proposed appropriations included $1.5 million for lighting improvements on Melvin Evans Highway, $1.8 million for territorywide roadside brush clearing, $1 million to renovate restroom facilities in downtown Charlotte Amalie, $117,000 for thermoplastic pavement markings, $300,000 to improve the Eastern Cemetery crypt on St. Thomas, $1 million for furniture, equipment and maintenance at the Youth Rehabilitation Center and Group Home, $1.5 million for repairs to the Frederiksted Waterfront and revitalization of Midre Cummings Park, and $350,000 for lighting improvements on Strand Street in Frederiksted.

Government House said the request came as Office of Management and Budget Director Jenifer O'Neal projected a $71 million surplus in the fiscal 2021 budget based on revenue projections presented during the 2021 Spring Revenue Estimating Conference on St. Thomas.

O'Neal projected total gross revenue of $909,023,773 for 2021, compared with a legislative appropriation of $838,933,534.

Official source: https://www.vi.gov/governor-bryan-sends-down-supplemental-budget-request-amid-positive-revenue-projection/