In a marathon session held early this week, the Chapala city council approved revenue rates for 2017, including a five-percent bump in property taxes.
Also rising next year will be the cost of annual business licenses, going up from 180 pesos to 365 pesos. Commercial enterprises will also be subject to an added charge for garbage collection services, currently provided at no cost.
At a four-and-a-half-hour session held Monday, August 30. the Chapala City Council approved by unanimous vote the proposed Ley de Ingresos (revenue act) establishing rates for municipal taxes and fees to be applied in 2017.
The act must be ratified by the Jalisco state legislature before going into effect next January.
Although the full text has not yet been released to the public, a five-percent hike in impuesto predial (property tax) was among key points revealed during debate on the matter.
Councilman Juan Carlos Pelayo stated that he would vote against the measure unless a 10-percent increase in water service fees was put up for reconsideration.
Chapala Mayor Javier Degollado concurred with Pelayo’s assessment that the increase was excessive, pledging to advocate for holding rates as they stand this year. With that commitment on the record, Pelayo voted in favor of the entire package.
The prolonged length of the meeting was due to a 55-day delay since the last monthly council session held on July 1. As the final item on the August agenda, Pelayo pushed through an initiative to modify the government’s administrative law requiring the scheduling of at least two regular council sessions each month. It squeaked through by a seven-to-four vote, with the mayor among those on the opposing side.