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COMMITTEE ON BUDGET, APPROPRIATIONS AND FINANCE 04/14/2023-SPECIAL ORDERED TO THE FLOOR BILL NO. 35-0061 Thirty-Fifth Legislature of the Virgin Islands March 24, 2023 An Act directing the Virgin Islands Inspector General to conduct an audit of the Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority; making a $250,000 appropriation to conduct the audit; and for other related purposes PROPOSED BY: Senators Kenneth L. Gittens, Angel L. Bolques, Jr., Diane T. Capehart and Carla J. Joseph Co-sponsors: Marvin A. Blyden, Javan E. James, Sr. and Franklin D. Johnson Be it enacted by the Legislature of the Virgin Islands: 1 SECTION 1. (a) The Virgin Islands Inspector General (“Inspector General”) shall 2 conduct an audit of the Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority (“Authority”) to investigate 3 all financial transactions in the following matters: 4 (1) The VITOL (propane) contract; 5 (2) The AMI (meter reading) contract; 6 (3) The Bolongo Bay and Four Winds leases; 7 (4) The shipment of Hurricanes Irma and Maria alleged FEMA-funded electrical 8 restoration supplies and equipment to the British Virgin Islands; and 9 (5) The $2,000,000 offshore payment. 10 (b) The Inspector General may appoint additional personnel, including a special 11 investigator, as the Inspector General considers necessary and appropriate to assist with the 12 audit. 13 2 (c) The Inspector General shall commence the audit not later than 30 days after the 1 enactment date of this Act and shall complete and submit the audit report to the Governor and 2 the President of the Legislature not later than 12 months after the enactment date of this Act. 3 SECTION 2. The President of the Legislature shall provide a copy of the audit report 4 to all Senators not later than five days after receipt of the report. 5 SECTION 3. Not later than 10 days after the audit report is completed, the Inspector 6 General shall provide a copy of the report to the Attorney General of the Virgin Islands or the 7 U.S. Attorney, as the case may be, to review and determine whether there have been any 8 violations of local or federal law and to prosecute any unlawful actions. 9 SECTION 4. (a) The sum of $250,000 is appropriated in the fiscal year ending 10 September 30, 2023, from the General Fund of the Government of the Virgin Islands to the 11 Office of the Virgin Islands Inspector General to conduct the audit in Section 1. 12 (b) The sum appropriated in subsection (a) remains available until expended. 13 BILL SUMMARY 14 This bill requires the Virgin Islands Inspector General to conduct an audit of the Virgin 15 Islands Water and Power Authority to investigate financial transactions relating to: the VITOL 16 (propane) contract; the AMI (meter reading) contract; the Bolongo Bay and Four Winds leases; 17 the shipment of Hurricanes Irma and Maria alleged FEMA-funded electrical restoration 18 supplies and equipment to the British Virgin Islands; and the $2,000,000 million offshore 19 payment. The bill further requires that: the audit commence not later than 30 days after the 20 enactment date of the act and be completed not later than 12 months after the enactment date 21 of the act and for a copy of the audit to be provided to the Governor and the President of the 22 Legislature; for the President of the Legislature to provide a copy of the audit report to all 23 Senators not later than five days after receipt of the report; and for the Inspector General to, 24 not later than 10 days after the audit report is completed, provide a copy of the report to the 25 3 Attorney General of the Virgin Islands or the U.S. Attorney to review and determine whether 1 there have been any violations of local or federal law and to prosecute any unlawful actions. 2 Finally, the bill appropriates the sum of $250,000 to conduct the audit. 3 BR23-0381/February 21, 2023/GC 4