If you own a house valued by the Tax Assessor at $1.5 million (like a modest 2-bedroom home), you can expect your new tax bill to be $5,400, under a schedule of tax rates proposed by the Lt. Governor this week.
Gregory Francis said the differentiated rates were a strategy to deal with the huge increases in the recent revaluation project, according to the St. John Source.
The Lt. Gov proposed tax rates of .0036% on residential property, .0065 for commercial property, .0110 for timeshares, and .0046 for land. The average property owner would see property taxes more than double, from $1,542 to $3,831, the Source reported. The average property value on all three islands increased by 85%.
The new rates would generate an additional $10 million for the government. The Governor’s proposed budget for the next year assumes that increase.
The Lt. Gov. and the Tax Assessor were holding town meetings on each island this week, with the St. John session scheduled for Thursday night.
I assume many homeowners on St John are retired…their houses are beautiful, the weather wonderful, and life is relaxed. I too am retired, and I pay $6,700 in taxes on a $400,000 house. I live with wind, rain, snow and low double diget temperatures. Instead of sitting on my porch and looking at the beautiful islands and water, I get to relax by taking out my snow shovel and working up a sweat, only to do it all again tomorrow…of course, I do get to St.John for a few week every year and spend the time wishing I could live there…some people don’t know how good they have it!