Company: OIA
Filing Date: 2025-03-13
Form Type: 424B5
Source: 0001104659-25-023508
Chunk: 188

Company: Invesco Municipal Income Opportunities Trust
Filing Date: 2025-03-13
Form: 424B5
Chunk 188
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 fire at the refinery, and the September 2022, October 2022, and August 2024 announcements of additional EPA action and reopening requirements, it is not possible to predict the extent of the impact of the sale of the refinery on the Virgin Islands’ economy. C-11 In fiscal year 2020, the Virgin Islands reported a net pension liability for the primary government and component units of $4.2 billion. Additionally, the Virgin Islands reported an other post-employment benefits liability of $786.8 million in fiscal year 2020. In fiscal year 2021, the pension liability totaled approximately $4.53 billion. Additionally, the Virgin Islands reported an other post-employment benefits liability of $992.3 million in fiscal year 2020. Virgin Islands officials were continuing to project that the public pension system would reach insolvency by 2024 absent a reduction in member benefits or infusion of cash into the system. The U.S. Virgin Islands’ Government Employees’ Retirement System (GERS) remains one of the lowest funded public pension plans in the United States, according to GAO’s analysis of national data. In 2021, GERS actuaries projected that the plan would be insolvent by March 2025. The USVI government has made changes to the plan over the years to maintain its solvency. In April 2022, USVI finalized a debt refinancing plan to provide dedicated funding to GERS with revenue from an excise tax on rum sales. However, GERS continues to face the risk of insolvency. According to GAO’s analysis, GERS may face insolvency within the next 10 years if the excise tax rate is lower than expected or if rum sales decline, among other risks. For example, the GERS’ revenue projections for the excise tax used a $13.25 per proof gallon tax rate that expired in 2021 and reverted to a lower statutorily defined rate in 2022 ($10.50). While the USVI government has paid the resulting shortfall in 2023, it is not required and may not be sustainable. Overall, the underlying fundamentals of the Virgin Islands economy are volatile. Increasing unemployment, decreasing revenues and the loss of many high-paying jobs have combined to place significant fiscal pressure on the local government. It is possible that fiscal challenges facing the Virgin Islands could impact the ability of the territory to satisfy the obligations on its outstanding debt. Any such outcome would likely reduce the value of the municipal securities issued by the