2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE THIRTEEN - Taxation and Finance (§§ 1 — 33423) › Subtitle 1 - Governmental Finances (§§ 1 — 155) › Chapter 1 - Treasury Funds and Accounts (§§ 1 — 17) › § 13 - Dedicated Sales Tax Fund—Use

(a) The moneys originating from the revenues indicated in § 12(a) of this title shall be deposited directly in the FIA and shall be used exclusively for any of the following purposes:
(1) To pay the advances to be made by GDB pursuant to the Act to Impose the Supertax of 2006.
(2) To directly or indirectly pay or refinance all or part of the extraconstitutional debt of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico outstanding as of June 30, 2006, and the accrued interest thereon.
(3) To directly or indirectly pay the items established in subsection (b) of § 11a of this title and the bonds issued by COFINA to meet the purposes established in said subsection (b) of § 11a of this title.
(b) The revenues indicated in § 12(a) of this title deposited in the FIA shall be used by COFINA, pursuant to financing or refinancing mechanisms, exclusively for the purpose of paying, financing or refinancing, directly or indirectly, the extraconstitutional debt of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico outstanding as of June 30, 2006, and all other debts, accounts or items mentioned in subsection (b) of § 11a of this title, including amounts owed to the GDB and the obligations incurred under any type of financing or surety agreement or interest rate swap agreement executed with respect to bonds issued to finance or refinance such debt. COFINA is hereby authorized to pledge and otherwise encumber all or part of such revenues solely for the payment of principal, interest and redemption premium of such bonds and other obligations of such instrumentality that were incurred with respect to such bonds to meet the purposes set forth in §§ 11a—16 of this title and the payment of obligations incurred under any type of financing or surety agreement or interest rate swap agreement executed with respect to such bonds. Said pledge shall be valid and binding as of the time it is made without the need for a public or notarized document. The income or revenues thus encumbered, including those subsequently received by COFINA, shall be subject to said lien immediately, without the need of physically delivering the same or any other act, and said lien shall be valid and binding and shall prevail against any third party that has a claim of any kind for damages, breach of contract or any other grounds against COFINA, regardless of the fact that said third party has not been so notified. Neither the trust contract nor the resolution or any collateral contract, through which the rights of COFINA over any income or collection are pledged or assigned must be presented or registered for perfection of the lien over the same against any third party, except in the records of COFINA.
(c) Amounts deposited into FIA in excess of the amounts necessary to pay the principal of and interest on COFINA bonds, to meet the obligations incurred under bond issue documents or to make any other payment related to other obligations incurred by COFINA, including payments under interest rate swaps agreements, in connection with money taken on loan or bonds issued by said instrumentality for the payment of which the proceeds of such tax has been pledged, may be transferred to the General Fund of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico to be used as determined by the Secretary of the Treasury to cover any expenses included in the budget approved by the Legislative Assembly for the current year. In order to be able to make such transfer, the same shall be authorized by the COFINA Board of Directors, upon certification of the fact that the amounts to be transferred are not necessary to meet any obligation of COFINA.
(d) The bonds and other obligations of COFINA shall not constitute a debt or obligation of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico nor of its other instrumentalities. Neither the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico nor its other public instrumentalities shall be responsible for the payment of such bonds or other obligations, for which the full faith, credit and taxing power of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico shall not be pledged.
History —May 13, 2006, No. 91, § 3; Dec. 26, 2006, No. 291, § 2; renumbered as § 4 and amended on July 5, 2007, No. 56, § 3; Jan. 14, 2009, No. 1, § 3; May 22, 2009, No. 18, § 3; June 30, 2013, No. 40, § 7; Oct. 10, 2013, No. 116, § 3.