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OFFICE OF THE LIEUTENANT 
GOVERNOR 
 
Honorable Tregenza A. Roach, Esq.  
Lieutenant Governor 
 
 
 
Testimony before the 
Committee on 
 Disaster Recovery, Infrastructure and 
Planning  
 
April 24, 2026 
 
 
 
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Good Day, Honorable Senator Marise C. James, Chair of the Committee on Disaster 
Recovery, Infrastructure and Planning, other committee members, other members 
of the 36th Legislature of the Virgin Islands, and viewing and listening audiences.  I 
am Ludence A. Romney, Tax Assessor, Office of Tax Assessor (“OTA”), and I am 
accompanied today by Mr. Brent Leerdam, Tax Collector, Office of Tax Collector, 
within the Office of the Lieutenant Governor (“LGO”). 
 
On behalf of Lieutenant Governor Tregenza A. Roach, Esq., the Office of the 
Lieutenant Governor, Division of Real Property Tax, it gives me great pleasure to 
testify on Bill No. 36-0248, an Act amending Title 29 of the Virgin Islands Code by 
enacting the “Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy (C-PACE) Act.”  Based 
on the following reasons, as presently written, we object to Bill No. 36-0248. 
 
Bill No. 36-0248 seeks to enact the Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy 
Act (C-PACE), which is intended to provide a funding mechanism that enables low-
cost, long-term funding for energy efficiency, renewable energy and hurricane 
preparedness to privately-owned commercial property owners.  This legislation 
seeks to provide a special, voluntary property assessment to property owners with 
the goal of capturing improvements to energy and water sustainability, that can 
translate into borrowing capacity to the property owner. 
 
The legislation further seeks to conjoin the intended responsibilities of the Virgin 
Islands Energy Office, with the statutory responsibilities of the Office of the 
Lieutenant Governor, Real Property Tax Division.  Specifically, pursuant to Bill No. 
36-0248, section 1508, “annual special assessment on the property tax bill of the 
benefited property, and it shall be collected in the same manner and time as provided 
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for under 33 V.I.C. subtitle 2, chapter 89, and when received shall be remanded in a 
timely manner to the appropriate capital provider.” 
 
First, the Real Property Tax Division, namely the Office of the Tax Assessor, is 
charged with administering the assessment of property taxes based on the 
regulations and guidance of the International Association of Assessment Officers 
(IAAO) and is not suited to provide analysis of specialized property improvements 
to energy and water efficiency. 
 
Second, this Bill can achieve the same initiatives if the VI Energy Office: 
a) Hires 
an 
independent 
appraiser 
to 
determine 
the 
specialized 
improvements/applications 
b) Performs the billing and collection process in-house or out-sources the 
billing and collection process 
c) In accordance with the proposed statute, Bill No. 36-0248, the written Notice 
of Assessment and C-PACE lien should be recorded with the Recorder of 
Deeds Office. 
 
Third, the Bill as written increases the risks of jeopardy to the GVI Audit process, 
that is rigorously pursued each year by external auditors, due to the varied streams 
of revenue, not related to property taxes.  Such a scenario raises the possibility of 
our need to explain our juxtaposed responsibilities both as an impartial government 
Tax Assessor/Collector versus a role as Mortgage/Borrower/Collector and the 
related Final Collection Activity processes. 
 
Madam Chairperson, thank you for the opportunity to testify on behalf of 
Lieutenant Governor Roach and the rest of the LGO team concerning Bill No. 36-
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0248.  We are available to answer any questions that you or members of the 
Committee may have.