USVI Veterans Taxi Medallion Auction

No other jurisdiction in this catalog has anything like this. Under 20 V.I.C. § 407(c) the Virgin Islands runs an annual auction of taxi medallions reserved to veterans, and a medallion is a licence to earn a living. Policy Letter 5 of April 15, 2020 sets out how it works. The auction is held in the month of December. It is, in the office's capitals, "OPENED TO VIRGIN ISLANDS VETERANS OF THE US ARMED SERVICES ONLY," so it sits on the Virgin Islands Veteran side of the territory's benefit line: you must have been a domiciliary who entered service in the Virgin Islands, or a domiciliary who entered elsewhere while temporarily residing there. The steps, in order, because getting them out of order loses you a year. Pick up the application at the Taxicab Commission office in your island district during working hours, Monday to Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Take it to the Virgin Islands Office of Veterans Affairs in your district for verification of eligibility as a U.S. Virgin Islands veteran. Attach two documents proving residency on the island where the auction is being held, from a choice of three: a current property tax bill, a current residential lease, or a WAPA bill. Deposit everything in the bid box at the designated location for your district no later than 10:00 a.m. on the day of the auction. Then the rule that catches people: "BID APPLICANTS MUST BE PRESENT AT THE TIME OF AUCTION." Bid envelopes are opened and announced publicly at the auction. A bid submitted by someone who does not show up is wasted. The money. The minimum acceptable bid is $20,000 for St. Thomas and St. John and $8,000 for St. Croix. The winning applicant must make a ten percent down payment of the bid amount no later than 3:00 p.m. on the same day, by money order or certified check only, payable to the Government of the Virgin Islands, and the deposit is expressly nonrefundable. The balance must be paid the same way within ten business days, at which point the Certificate of Entitlement and the medallion are issued. So a successful St. Thomas bidder needs at least $2,000 in certified funds on the day and the remaining $18,000 within two weeks. Plan the financing before the auction, not after. The restriction. Anyone winning a medallion at the veteran auction is prohibited from transferring it by sale or otherwise within three years of purchase. That is the territory making sure the benefit produces a working taxi driver rather than a resale. This is an opportunity to acquire an asset at a set floor price, not a grant. Nothing about a disability rating enters it. What it needs is the Virgin Islands Veteran status, residency on the auction island, certified funds and attendance in December. Confirm the current minimums and the auction date with the Taxicab Commission and the Office of Veterans Affairs. The policy letter is from 2020 and says it remains in effect unless changed or rescinded by the current Director, but auction floors are exactly the kind of figure that moves.