Quebradillas Mayor Heriberto Vélez Vélez says the municipality has achieved savings and launched income-generating initiatives to keep basic services running. He identifies the main problem as reduced funding to municipalities: when he began, the budget was almost $12 million, and it is now about $6 million. He says the Fiscal Oversight Board (JSF) took away the Equalization Fund money, a distribution among municipalities that he says affected neither the central government nor anyone else, and that municipalities keep getting fiscal burdens while losing revenue.
In response, the town has bet on municipal enterprises to add income. Garbage collection, previously contracted out, is now run by the municipality, which he says cut expenses by roughly half a million dollars in its first year. He says officials are seeking other expense reductions without affecting basic services.
With City Revitalization funds, five projects have been carried out: 14 or 15 rooms for homeless or low-income people; the Plaza del Mercado, under construction; Paseo Linares, finished but needing floor repairs because of a defect; a museum on the town's history; and a project in front of the Guajataca parador with interpretive trails, artisan areas and shops for local entrepreneurs. The Guajataca project is starting the bidding process, and the museum is about 95% done.