OK, I suck at posting this, but this letter states that not only is the rental vehicle tax increasing to $3.75 per day, but the minimum fine for any vehicle being barged off the island it is licensed on is $1,000 and the possible loss of the agency's business license. I think that there are only about 600 rental vehicles currently allocated on St. John. This is going to get nasty.
Completely ridiculous. And as I saw elsewehere, rather interesting that they just licensed two new passenger ferries.
ReplyDeleteAs a former Westin concierge whose major duty of the day was the very painful task of finding rental cars for guests, I believe this will be a total nightmare.
ReplyDeleteStir it up! Hope you got lots of views - sure got them all talking - Thanks for a great scoop. ExitZero
ReplyDeleteMy hero, Exit Zero! Some day we shall meet, or perhaps I already know you. In the meantime, thanks for sharing my rantings. And I was corrected today: STJ only has 585 rental vehicles allocated here, divided up by at least a dozen agencies. I am not sure if this new rule is a move by the STT taxis or the STT rental agencies, or a push to get more rental vehicles over here. Only time will tell. We do indeed run out of vehicles here on STJ during peak weeks. And that's not even counting the dozens of day-trippers from STT each day.
DeleteJust heard the news. Arriving on STT May 10 and already have a rental from Avis at the airport. Called the Tourism Department and was told there was a 60 day grace period. We are receiving, from them, a letter giving us permission to barge to St. John. But in September we will have to rent from a St. John rental agency at $300 more a week. But it's not about the money.
ReplyDeleteSince I cannot read the fine print,when is this supposed to go into effect? We are planning on being on STJ 5/5 thru 5/11 and have a car rented at STT. Is this going to affect our plans?
ReplyDeleteI just called the rental agency on SST. They told me its just a rumor??? Is there anywhere that I can verify one way or the other? We have been traveling to USVI for years and never run into any bureaucratic BS before, Sup?
ReplyDeleteShew, the governor, who I would never vote for again (oh, wait, I never did vote for him) has waived the 60-day grace period indefinitely. Meaning, STT rental vehicles can still be barged over, so business as usual, with no expiration date. For now.
ReplyDeleteI am very late to reply to these comments, so I am sure you have all heard the news about the STT vehicle rental situation.
I was busy helping rescue a tourist off the roof of one of my rental homes this morning (well, actually, watched the rescue, I am a wimp.) Yes, they locked themselves out of the house and the father thought that it was a great idea not to call me, but to go over the roof and break in to the back of the house.
Vacation time should not equal clinic time. Maybe they have better insurance than I do.