Lieutenant Governor Gregory R. Francis announces that the Office of the Tax Assessor has begun the process of mailing out residential and property tax bills to property owners in the Territory. The bills, which were originally scheduled to be sent out in June, were delayed due to technical problems both at the Department of Finance and the Office of the Tax Assessor.

"Upon assuming office, I was disturbed to know that we were unable to send out property tax bills on time due to several technical problems within our Government," Lt. Governor Francis said. "During the past month, we have worked long and hard to ensure that these bills will be mailed out at the end of January. We expect all the bills to be mailed out by the end of next week."

Lt. Governor Francis said that a new due date has not yet been set for the property tax bills since they were sent out late. According to the Virgin Islands Code, the bills are due on August 31 of each year.

"As stipulated by law, we will request that the Commissioner of Finance petition Governor John deJongh to issue an executive order specifying the new due date," Lt. Governor Francis said. "I am also reminding the public that only the Department of Finance can collect payment for property taxes. Payments cannot be collected at the Office of the Tax Assessor."

Both commercial and residential property tax bills will be sent out at the 1998 level and will not reflect any changes in value for reassessed properties. Lt. Governor Francis added that the Office of the Tax Assessor is currently wrapping up the two-year revaluation project and will soon alert property owners on any changes in value for their properties.

For more information, contact the Office of the Tax Assessor on St. Croix at 773-6459 in Christiansted or at 772-3115 in Frederiksted; on St. Thomas at 776-8505 and on St. John at 776-6737.