2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-ONE - Municipalities (§§ 1-4 — 6756) › Subtitle 6 - Autonomous Municipalities (§§ 4001 — 4990-4990j) › Chapter 219 - Acquisition and Disposition of Real Estate and Chattels (§§ 4451 — 4465) › § 4455a - Municipal assets—Property declared as surplus

Notwithstanding what is provided in this subtitle, the municipality shall dispose of municipal public property declared as surplus, for agricultural use or to manufacture handicrafts or that may benefit fishing activities, or for artisanry, through sale with preferential treatment, and for its fair market value to be determined through the corresponding evaluation and appraisal procedure, to any bona fide farmer, aquiculturist, artisan and fisherman, respectively, who qualifies as such, as provided herein, and who resides in the municipality.
(a) Any farmer, aquiculturist, artisan and fisherman interested in acquiring surplus property for agricultural, industrial or fishing activities, respectively, shall state so before the mayor, through a sworn statement declaring that agriculture, aquiculture, artisanry or fishing, respectively, represents fifty percent (50%) or more of his/her gross income and that he/she resides in the municipality. Said statement shall be accompanied by a certification of the Secretary of Agriculture of Puerto Rico, in the case of farmers, of the Secretary of the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources, in the case of fishermen and aquiculturists, or of the Administrator of Economic Development, in the case of artisans.
The mayor shall keep the names of bona fide farmers, aquiculturists, artisans and fishermen, who have registered before him and who are accredited as such. The mayor shall have the obligation to notify them whenever there is surplus property they can use, available for their acquisition.
The mayor shall adopt in the regulations on surplus property, any additional rules and procedures to the ones established herein, as may be necessary for the implementation of this section.
(b) After every agency of the Executive or Legislative or Municipal Branch has rejected a property that has been declared as surplus by the mayor, and which is to be used in agriculture or for the manufacture of handicrafts in artisanry, or that may be beneficial for fishing activities, the mayor may then consider applications from bona fide farmers, aquiculturists, artisans and fishermen who have stated their interest in acquiring such property. The mayor may sell the surplus property to any bona fide farmer, aquiculturist, artisan and fisherman who has applied for the same pursuant to the announcements made in the press of general circulation in Puerto Rico. When there is more than one application for a property declared as surplus, the administrator shall carry out a drawing among the interested parties. The applications shall be processed in the order received. Provided, That the equipment units shall be sold to farmers, aquiculturists, artisans or fishermen separately, that is, one by one. These farmers shall pay based on the price fixed by the municipal dependency concerned, pursuant to what is stipulated in the first paragraph of this section.
(c) The sale of any municipal property carried out pursuant to the above subsections shall need the approval of the Municipal Legislature through an ordinance or resolution.
History —Aug. 30, 1991, No. 81, added as § 10.005-A on May 29, 1997, No. 13, § 1; renumbered as § 9.005-A on Jan. 10, 1999, No. 30, § 3.