The Municipal Revenue Collections Center (CRIM) has asked Puerto Rico’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to seek approval from the Financial Oversight and Management Board for a disbursement of about $13.6 million to compensate municipalities for revenue lost from exempting prescription medications from the island’s inventory tax. In a November 6 letter to OMB Executive Director Orlando C. Rivera Berríos, CRIM Executive Director Javier García Cintrón said the exemption created under Act 78-2025 has reduced municipal revenues by $13.62 million since it took effect.
"Neither municipality would receive more or less than the amount it stopped collecting," the letter states.
The law, signed on July 27, 2025, amended the Municipal Code to exempt prescription drugs from personal property taxes, commonly called the inventory tax. García Cintrón wrote that CRIM’s analysis of personal property tax returns shows the law has had a direct effect on municipal finances across the island, and that it included no alternative funding source.
CRIM wants the money drawn from a $66 million reserve in the Municipal Consolidation Fund, created under certified fiscal plans and annual budgets to assist municipalities affected by inventory tax changes. The $13.62 million would be split among the 78 municipalities according to what each lost, based on a town-by-town breakdown CRIM prepared. "Neither municipality would receive more or less than the amount it stopped collecting," the letter states.
Before funds can be released, the board must set the eligibility threshold under the budget resolutions governing the fund. CRIM asked OMB to submit the request and recommend that the threshold be the revenue loss CRIM certifies for each municipality. If approved, CRIM says the allocation would be a one-time replacement of lost revenue.