Mayors and the Fiscal Board agree on a pilot support plan in the face of the Equalization Fund's decline

The Puerto Rico Association of Mayors, chaired by Luis Javier Hernández Ortiz, and the Puerto Rico Federation of Mayors, headed by Gabriel Hernández Rodríguez, reached a principle of agreement with the Fiscal Oversight Board (JSF), led by Robert F. Mujica Jr., to implement a pilot fund for essential municipal services.

The financial mechanism seeks to mitigate the fiscal impact of the progressive elimination of the Equalization Fund imposed by the PROMESA Fiscal Plan, which cut more than $350 million in direct government transfers, placing dozens of rural city halls such as Maricao, Las Marías, Florida, and Guánica on the edge of operational insolvency.

The agreement conditions the assignment of extraordinary funds on the achievement of administrative-efficiency goals, digitization of collections through CRIM under Reinaldo Paniagua Látimer, and the voluntary consolidation of municipal garbage-collection, road-maintenance, and public-safety services. Municipal leaders reiterated that local governments are the first line of response to the citizenry.

Source: El Vocero. https://www.elvocero.com/gobierno/alcaldes-y-junta-fiscal-acuerdan-plan-piloto-ante-merma-del-fondo-de-equiparacion/article_93crimfondo.html