V.I. Property-Tax Bill Passes U.S. Senate

From the St. Thomas Source:

June 12, 2007 -- The U.S. Senate overcame a months-old parliamentary hurdle and passed, on unanimous consent, a bill sponsored by Delegate Donna M. Christensen that repeals a 1936 federal law limiting the authority of the V.I. government to administer its own property-tax system, according to a Government House news release.

The bill, which passed the House of Representatives last January, now goes to the president for his signature.

The bill had been held up by a U.S. senator who had put a “legislative hold” on all bills reported by the Senate Energy Committee, including the V.I. property-tax bill, the news release said. The senator agreed to release his hold on the bill after the Senate leadership agreed to separate the V.I. bill from the other Senate Energy Committee bills that prompted the hold, the release said.