2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-ONE - Municipalities (§§ 1-4 — 6756) › Subtitle 6 - Autonomous Municipalities (§§ 4001 — 4990-4990j) › Chapter 227 - Delegation of Legal Authority (§§ 4651 — 4663) › § 4657 - Delegation of legal authority—Approval by the Governor

All proposed agreement[s] for the delegation of legal authority shall be submitted to the Governor of Puerto Rico, together with a certified copy of the resolution passed by the Legislature. The Governor shall refer the municipality’s petition to the public agencies concerned, including the Commissioner, for their evaluation, comments and recommendations within a reasonable period of time that shall not exceed sixty (60) days counted from the date of its receipt.
The Governor shall decide whether to approve the delegation of legal authority sought in view of the reports of said agencies, and also shall consider the following factors:
(a) The nature and scope of the powers, duties and responsibilities included or implied in the delegation of legal authority sought.
(b) The effect of such delegation on the rules, procedures and proceedings and whether it would interfere with the maintenance of normal standards or divide decision-making processes.
(c) Whether the delegation of legal authority to one or several municipalities, while the central government retains such authority in the rest of the municipalities, could limit the public’s equal access to any program, services, plans, facilities, benefits, or others that should be provided, rendered, or made available by virtue of the legal authority involved.
(d) The public necessity and convenience of the delegation, and whether it would have the effect of increasing the degree of complexity of the governmental system in general and of creating new structures, supervisory entities, agencies or offices that are parallel to those of the central government.
(e) The measures to be adopted to restructure the delegating agencies and to adapt them to the reduction of duties and responsibilities implied by the delegation of their legal authorities, or a part of them, to the municipalities.
(f) The economic and financial record of the municipality, its managerial and administrative ability, and the facilities available to exercise the powers, responsibilities and duties involved in the legal authorities to be delegated.
(g) The funds to be provided by the delegating agency, the restrictions and norms to which such funds will be subject, and the moneys to be contributed by the municipality, if any, as well as any other sources of financing.
(h) The human resources to be transferred from the delegating agency to the municipality, if any, the terms of such transfer, the duties to be carried out, the standards of supervision to which they will be subject, and the rights and benefits to be guaranteed to them.
(i) The mechanisms, systems and procedures of the central government to evaluate, monitor and carry out the examinations and audits needed to ensure that the delegated legal authority is exercised, executed or developed in accordance with the public policy and applicable laws.
(j) The period of time proposed to exercise the delegation of legal authority.
The Governor may modify the contract and impose the conditions, requirements and restrictions he/she deems convenient or necessary for the best public interest. The Governor shall notify the mayor of his decision regarding the agreement with a copy to the Legislature, and upon its approval, will attach all of his/her modifications to the final document. The mayor shall submit it to the Legislature for ratification, and the Legislature shall consider it at the regular or special session following its presentation, by two thirds (2 / 3) of the total number of members. Upon ratification, the Secretary of the Legislature shall issue a certification indicating said fact and the date of ratification, and the number of votes in favor of the ratification. The delegation agreement shall be signed by the Governor and the mayor, and the certification of ratification by the Legislature shall become a part of the contract.
Copies of the agreement for delegation of legal authority will be sent to each Chamber of the Legislature [of Puerto Rico] and to the Department of State of Puerto Rico.
History —Aug. 30, 1991, No. 81, § 14.007.