2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-ONE - Municipalities (§§ 1-4 — 6756) › Subtitle 6 - Autonomous Municipalities (§§ 4001 — 4990-4990j) › Chapter 203 - Powers and Faculties of the Municipal Government (§§ 4051 — 4058) › § 4051 - Powers

The municipalities shall have the necessary and suitable powers for exercising all the authorities corresponding to a local government and for achieving its purposes and functions. In addition to what is provided in this subtitle or in any other law, the municipalities shall have the following powers:
(a) Adopt, alter and use an official seal of which judicial cognizance shall be made, and shall affix it on all official documents of the municipality, and adopt a shield, a banner and an official hymn of the municipality.
(b) To sue and be sued, file charges, complain and defend itself in any general court of justice and administrative body.
(c) Exercise the power of expropriation, within their respective territorial boundaries, on their own or through the Governor of Puerto Rico, subject to the applicable general laws and the special executive orders in effect. Provided, That the only mechanism available for a municipality to acquire property whose title holders are the Government of Puerto Rico, its instrumentalities or public corporations, shall be provided in § 4453 of this title.
(d) Acquire property by any legal means, within and outside of its territorial limits, including tax collection procedures.
(e) Possess and administer real property and chattels and lease it pursuant to this subtitle.
(f) Sell, encumber and alienate any of its properties subject to applicable legal provisions or ordinances.
(g) Cede to and acquire title from any public agency, to any real assets or chattels, either gratuitously or by purchase, subject to the provisions of this subtitle.
(h) Contract loans in the form of advances from the various sources of municipal revenues, and incur debts in the form of borrowings, bond issues or notes, under the corresponding statutory provisions, federal laws, special laws that rule the same, and the regulations approved by the Government Development Bank to such effects.
(i) Accept and receive gifts of goods and services from any public agency of the Central Government and the federal government, as well as from any natural or juridical person, and administer and comply with the conditions and requirements to which said gifts are subject.
(j) Invest its funds in direct debentures of Puerto Rico, or secured as to principal and interest, by the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, or in obligations of any public agency or municipality of Puerto Rico; or in direct obligations of the United States or obligations secured as to principal and interest by the United States; or in obligations of any agency, instrumentality, commission, authority or other political subdivision of the United States; or in obligations of international banking institutions recognized by the United States. It may also invest its funds in acceptances or other banking obligations or certificates of deposit, endorsed or issued, as the case may be, by banks organized or authorized to do business under the laws of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico or the United States of America. The application of this section shall be ruled by the provisions of this subtitle, of federal laws, any special laws which are applicable, and by the regulations approved by the Government Development Bank to such effects.
(k) Provide the needed funds, according to the provisions of this subtitle, to pay the salaries of the officials and employees, and to defray the expenditures and operating expenses incurred or contracted, or to be incurred or contracted by the municipality for services, works and improvements of the municipality, or for its development, except as otherwise provided by law.
(l) Acquire and prepare land for any type of public work, and construct, improve, repair, reconstruct, and rehabilitate facilities of any class, type, or nature for any public end authorized by law.
(m) Acquire whatever equipment is necessary and convenient for the preparation and operation of any public work or facility, according to the applicable legal provisions.
(n) Contract professional, technical and consulting services that may be necessary to carry out the activities, programs and operations of the municipality, or to comply with any public purpose authorized by this subtitle or by any other act that applies to the municipalities. The municipalities, the special corporations created by these and the inter-municipal bodies established pursuant to this subtitle may contract, for reasonable pay, the services of the personnel of the University of Puerto Rico or any of its dependencies, outside of their working hours and with the prior written consent of the university body for which they work.
(o) Exercise its legislative and executive powers in any matter of a municipal nature, which will bring about the welfare of the community and its economic, social and cultural development; in the protection of the health and safety of the people; in encouraging civic action and the solidarity of the communities, and in the development of works and activities of collective interest, subject to applicable legislation.
(p) Create intermunicipal bodies that will allow two (2) or more municipalities to identify common problems and to plan and develop joint activities or services in benefit of the inhabitants. Their organization shall be carried out through an intermunicipal agreement signed by the mayors with the approval the absolute majority of each of the legislatures concerned; that is to say, the majority with more than half of the votes of their active members composing such body. Once the intermunicipal agreement has been approved, a consortium will be constituted, which shall have its own existence and juridical personality, separate from the municipality, as provided for partnerships in the Puerto Rico Civil Code of 1930. Said provisions shall apply in every respect that is not contrary to the provisions of this subtitle or other local or federal laws that govern them. The operations of the intermunicipal consortiums shall be subject to auditing by the Office of the Comptroller of Puerto Rico. In addition, every person, be it an employee or an official of a government agency, who is a member of the Employees Association of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico for a period of not less than one (1) year upon being transferred, relocated or contracted by an intermunicipal consortium, shall be able to continue his/her membership in the Association. If the person does not opt to continue his/her membership, he/she shall notify the Executive Director of the Association of his/her intention in writing, within a term of sixty (60) days from the day the change took place. In the event the employee opts to continue his/her membership, the Executive Director of the Association shall take the necessary measures to enforce the purposes of this section, to wit, coordinate with the respective consortium to implement this section.
Each intermunicipal consortium shall establish an autonomous system for the administration of its personnel. Said system shall be governed by the merit principle so that it promotes excellence in public service on the basis of equality, justice, efficiency, and productivity. Therefore, the consortiums shall adopt uniform regulations for the administration of human resources that contain a Uniform Job Classification and Compensation Plan, duly updated for regular and trust personnel; a recruitment, selection and regulation system; an official and employee training and evaluation system, and a system on the matter of retention and layoffs. This plan shall be evaluated and shall require the approval of the Board of Mayors.
The implementation of the compensation, as part of this Plan, shall be subject to the availability of federal funds appropriated to each consortium or local area. No municipality, consortium, or local area shall be compelled to absorb or retain the employees that have been laid off due to the lack of funds, whether by the reduction or elimination of budget appropriations by the federal government.
(q) Enter into agreements with the federal government, the agencies, departments, public corporations and instrumentalities of the Government of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico for the development of municipal public works and facilities and for the rendering of public services pursuant to applicable federal or state laws and to promote the viability of the work or project to be carried out upon delegating competencies. The public dependencies and instrumentalities that agree to delegate competence to the municipalities shall be bound to transfer thereto the fiscal and human resources necessary to assume such competence, unless the municipality certifies that it has its own resources. Formalization of contracts shall require prior approval by the municipal legislature.
(r) Contract with any public agency and any natural or juridical person the joint, coordinate, or delegated development, administration, and operation of facilities for the rendering of public services and for the construction, repair, and maintenance of municipal facilities. Such activities shall include contracting projects in conjunction with for-profit and not-for-profit public or private entities for the construction and development of affordable housing; the development and operation of municipal programs or facilities; the development and operation of ecotourism and/or sustainable tourism activities, projects, and operations; and any others in which the municipality requires the participation of external natural or juridical persons for the feasibility of projects and programs. The formalization of the contracting shall require prior approval by the municipal legislature.
(s) Grant and award subsidies, gifts or any other type of help in cash or kind to nonprofit entities constituted pursuant to the laws of Puerto Rico, provided they are for public service ends and activities, and after complying with the provisions of this subtitle.
(t) Exercise all powers delegated by law and those that are incidental and necessary.
(u) Adopt ordinances providing for everything concerning those dwellings that are dangerous or harmful to health or safety due to their ruinous state, disrepair, and construction defects, pursuant to §§ 143–151 of Title 17, and any structure, edifice, billboard or other building that could constitute a public nuisance because of its threat to lives and safety.
(v) To adopt ordinances providing for the regulation of vehicular parking in the municipalities’ urban areas, including the parking by parking-meter system so that parking facilities are used in an efficient way and to benefit the municipalities’ development and their inhabitants’ welfare.
(w) Promote incentives for investments offer in equipment, machinery and processes to avoid contamination, give incentives for the creation of direct and indirect employment that bolsters regional economic activity promoting more links and incentives on external sources of energy to be carried out by the municipalities themselves or through the contracting of private, public or quasi-public entities.
(x) To contract and establish consortiums with other government agencies and private entities to provide day care center services their employees and officers in harmony with the provisions established by state and federal regulations in effect for similar programs.
The mayor or designated officer is hereby authorized to take all pertinent steps with respect to the Integral Care and Development of Childhood Administration, the government entity that, in accordance with Reorganization Plan No. 12 of 1995, manages the funds received by the Government of Puerto Rico under the federal “Child Care and Development Block Act”, as well as to establish consortiums with government agencies and private entities. Furthermore, the mayor or authorized officer in the municipalities also has the obligation to notify the Family and Children Administration of the establishment of any day care center for the benefit of its employees.
(y) To form consortia with other municipalities not necessarily geographically abutting each other to render administrative services such as human resources administration, revenue collections, solid waste recovery and disposal, medical emergency systems, federal programs office, provided that they comply with the applicable federal provisions; and tourist development office, among others. No consortium shall be created for internal audit offices. Consortia shall comply with the provisions applicable to consortia set forth in subsection (p) of this section and the provisions relative to contracts between municipalities set forth in § 4652 of this title.
—Aug. 30, 1991, No. 81, § 2.001; Oct. 29, 1992, No. 84, § 4; Aug. 11, 1994, No. 57, § 2; Apr. 13, 1995, No. 36, § 4; Apr. 9, 1998, No. 63, § 1; July 11, 1998, No. 121, § 1; Sept. 2, 2000, No. 360, § 1; Sept. 7, 2004, No. 258, § 7; Aug. 30, 2006, No. 171, § 1; Sept. 1, 2006, No. 183, § 1; Nov. 22, 2009, No. 154, § 1; Nov. 22, 2009, No. 159, § 1; Dec. 21, 2010, No. 211, § 1.
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