News of St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands

Coral Bay TV episode ... who knows?

Tonight, tonight ... maybe.

This is the listing for the show that appeared on Yahoo’s TV schedule page Sunday morning. 

It could be that the house hunting in Coral Bay episode of House Hunters International will be broadcast Sunday night.  Maybe.

However, HGTV’s own page of "Upcoming Episodes” doesn’t mention it.  http://www.hgtv.com/house-hunters-international/show/index.html 

What the heck.  Set the DVR and check Monday morning.

Governor cancels property tax bills

Gov. John de Jongh agrees, it's back to square one. 

In a statement posted to his Web site late Tuesday, a spokesman for the Governor said, "As a result of the appeals court decision, the Tax Assessor’s office will be rescinding the 2006 real property tax bills. In addition, the Executive Order which was issued setting due dates for those property tax bills will be vacated."

The statement continued, "Attorney General Vincent Frazer will be addressing the court as to the requirements of the government based on the order and identifying the next steps forward."

The Governor's aide said the Appeals Court ruling which blocks the government’s ability to issue real property tax bills for the year 2006 represents a loss in revenue of approximately $28 million.

Court blocks VI try for property taxes

If you own property on St. John, you may have thought you'd have a Virgin Islands tax bill to pay next month. 

It appears you can fuggetabout it.

A federal appeals court has rejected the Virgin Islands government’s renewed effort to collect property taxes from 2006. 

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit ruled against arguments from the Governor and the Tax Assessor finding the VIs have failed to obey orders to reform the property tax assessment system, specifically to offer a fair and timely process for tax appeals.

The Appeals Court said it agreed with the District Court that there was little evidence “to suggest that the Board of Tax Review is maintaining reliable records“ and that “certain good faith attempts” to establish an appeals system is not enough.

“In other words, procedural due process requires at a minimum that the taxpayer have both notice of the appeal and the right to participate,” the Court said. It found that process lacking.

Last fall, the District Court held the Virgin Islands in contempt for issuing tax bills without getting court approval of a new tax assessment system.  The government appealed the contempt order and, earlier this year, demanded payment of the previously-sent bills be made next month.

James Derr, a St. Thomas attorney for plaintiffs successfully arguing to block the government, said the Appeals Court decision was clear. As you can see, we won on all points.”

He wrote in an e-mail, "This means that both the contempt and the order to recall the 2006 bills are back in place." He added, "It should be interesting to see what the Government does now.”

St. John-based VI Unity Day Group hailed the Appeals Court decision.  A founder of the group, Coral Bay's Loreli Monsanto, told The Inquiring Iguana, "We're all winners on this one.  Now we'rt waiting for the Governor's next move."

Gov. John deJongh had no immediate comment on the decision against his administration. In fact, there was nothing at all on his Web site. It was a blank page at http://www.governordejongh.com/.

• This is a link to the Appeals Court decision

St. John tops for 2nd home

“The most popular choice from among House Hunters International's list of the world's best locations is the (sic) St. John in the American (sic) Virgin Islands,” HGTV announced, albeit with grammatical errors 

“Online voters selected this beautiful island community as the most desirable settings (sic) ) in all the world to live.”

(Do you think maybe the HGTV flack took English as a THIRD language?)

HGTV produced a video slide show of St. John to illustrate the story.  But, clearly, they did this on the cheap.  Instead of hiring one of the island’s excellent photographers like Steve Simonsen or Bob Schlesinger, they sourced shots from the Department of Tourism.  Not that the canned photos aren’t gorgeous.

‘Runners up’ in the Viewer Favorites survey were the Amafi Coast, Rome, Bali, Indonesia and Harbour Island, Bahamas.

Coral Bay villa shopping on TV

Last December, Ted and Sharon Prosser went house hunting in the Virgin islands. (Our story then.)

They brought along a film crew from HGTV.  Next week, we can all see the results of the effort when House Hunters International debuts the St. John episode at 9:30 p.m. June 14. 

The Prossers are followed around the island as they view three villas in Coral Bay and decide which one is best for a villa rental.   They chose a three-bedroom property named “Into the Mystic.” (That's the name of a Van Morrison song.)

“We think this will be great exposure for St John,” said Sharon Prosser.  “We hope it brings many visitors to  St John at a time (when) we all could use the business”.

If you miss the broadcast, HGTV has an extensive video site where full shows are available.

Optimist wins real estate contest

The number of St. John homes for sale on the Virgin islands Multiple Listing Service at the end of May was 142. 

That’s five fewer than were offered for sale at what may have been the nadir (or height) of the market five weeks ago when the list extended to 147 properties.

NewsofStJohn.com invited readers to offer their best guess as to where the market would be at the end of May. 

Nearly 75 entries were received. Most them expected the list to lengthen. 

The high guess was 176.   The low guess, and the right one, was 142. William Rini is the winner of the T-Shirt, courtesy of Jolly Dog at Coral Bay.

Gallows Pt. gourmet shop for sale

Every 'Ting, the gift shop at Gallows Point, was added to the list of commercial properties for sale this week. 

The store carries wine & spirits, cold beer, convenience foods, dairy, baked goods, snacks and toiletries.  It also offers gift items and has a coffee bar. Asking price is $179,000.

See the listing.

Property taxes due July 1

Here comes the Taxman, again ... maybe. 

By an Executive Order, Gov. John P. deJongh has set July 1 as the date for the 2006 property tax bills to be paid.

The bills were sent to residential and commercial property owners in the Virgin Islands last summer.  But because the matter of the fairness of the Territory’s valuation process was being contested in federal courts, the Tax Assessor said they could be ignored.

Which raises the question of how the Governor can now say taxes are due in seven weeks, given that the court case is not yet settled.

Wait, there’s more.  The Acting Tax Assessor told the St. John Source that property tax bills for 2007 are now being processed and may be in the mail in August.  That could mean a second property tax payment will be due around Halloween.

The Governor's Executive Order can be read here.

Holiday Homes rolls with the times

St. John’s oldest real estate firm is consolidating its offices. In a Spring/Summer newsletter, Holiday Homes explained that, “As the market has changed, we have to stay nimble to be in shape for our 50th anniversary next year!”

So, the 24-year-old sales office at Mongoose Junction will be closed and Holiday Homes will be headquartered on the first floor of the Marketplace.

This is interesting, because the Inquiring Iguana has heard of another real estate firm which said it would prefer to be located at Mongoose because there is greater tourist traffic there; the Marketplace gets locals. However, there’s no question that tourists need food and Holiday’s prime location next to Starfish Market, with big display windows for photos and posters, gives its real estate offerings great visibility.

Business wise, Holiday Homes says "We’re in a tricky economy. Winter season was slow but spring is more active,” the newsletter reported. In the first five months of the year, there have been three home closings and contracts on six more, compared to last year when four homes had closed and 10 were under contract.

How many villas for sale?

Checking the Multiple Listing Service rolls this morning, The Inquiring Iguana found there are now 147 residential properties for sale on the island.  That’s four more than last week.

Will the list hit 150?

The Iguana will award a Jolly Dog T-shirt to the first two person(s) who correctly guess what the number will be at the end of May. Post your entry here.  Deadline is 11:59 p.m., April 30.