Virgin Islands government said it paid all outstanding WAPA debt by July 30, 2019

Gov. Albert Bryan Jr. said on August 14, 2019, that all outstanding prior-year and current-year bills owed to the Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority by central government agencies had been fully paid as of July 30, 2019.

The administration also said it had paid outstanding WAPA debt owed by Schneider Regional Medical Center, Gov. Juan F. Luis Hospital and the Virgin Islands Waste Management Authority.

According to the statement, Act No. 8187 appropriated $10.5 million to WAPA from Schneider Regional Medical Center, $11.7 million from Gov. Juan F. Luis Hospital and $700,000 on behalf of the Waste Management Authority, using Medicaid recoupment funds appropriated to WAPA on behalf of the hospitals.

The government also said it advanced WAPA more than $8 million to cover the remaining $2.3 million owed by the hospitals and the Waste Management Authority and to pay the difference on bills owed by Executive Branch departments and agencies.

As a result, the government said it held a credit balance of just over $2 million with WAPA to be applied to future utility services.

In the statement, WAPA Executive Director Lawrence Kupfer said about $26 million had been paid to reduce the outstanding balances and that government entities had largely been staying current under the Single-Payer Utility Act.

Official source: https://www.vi.gov/government-of-the-virgin-islands-pays-all-outstanding-debt-owed-to-wapa/