(S. B. 1204) (No. 216-2009) (Approved December 29, 2009) AN ACT To provide that the submittal of all plans to the Municipal Revenue Collection Center for the registration of a property shall be done in digital format by an authorized professional, in order to eliminate the process of plan conversion into digital format in said agency and to provide a prompt and efficient property registration process. STATEMENT OF MOTIVES Act No. 80 of August 30, 1991, as amended, known as the Property Municipal Tax Act of 1991, established the Municipal Revenue Collection Center (CRIM, Spanish acronym) to render fiscal services on behalf of municipalities. This Center is responsible for notifying, appraising, collecting, and distributing public funds originating from different sources provided by law. The creation of the Municipal Revenue Collection Center is supplemental to the Municipal Reform which seeks to create autonomous municipalities that are fiscally independent. Act No. 80, supra, empowers the Municipal Revenue Collection Center to conduct a cadastre of all real properties in Puerto Rico, classify and appraise all tangible real and personal property and to establish rules for the valuation and appraisal with the precision and scientific detail that allow for fixing adequate and equitable property valuation rates for tax purposes.
The registration of a new property in the Puerto Rico Digital Cadastre requires filing an application together with the plan and the resolutions approved by regulatory agencies, among other documents, which are subsequently sent to the main office for their digitization. Most particularly, the plans undergo digitization procedures, geopositioning, and vectorization to segregate the property. After conducting a quality control, a new cadastre number is assigned to identify the property. Segregation is the first step of a process that is completed by the appraisal and eventual imposition of taxes. However, the property segregation process encounters problems in terms of plan location at their actual position. Paper plans do not have absolute coordinate systems to facilitate their location, which considerably delays the task of positioning plans in their actual location. At present, this complete process does not take more than 30 days; however, if the agency has troubles with the plans, this considerably lengthens the process. It is well known that the appraisal of many units can take years, which causes delay on the tax assessment process. Recently, a newspaper of general circulation published statements made by an expert on tax issues, in which he pointed out that he estimates that there are 600,000 properties in the Island that have not been appraised or that have undergone improvements that CRIM has not appraised. According to the expert, less than half of the structures built in Puerto Rico are appraised, which equals over $500 million that municipal administrations fail to receive each year. However, the Executive Director of the Municipal Revenue Collection Center estimated that there could be between 200,000 and 250,000 properties and land segregations in Puerto Rico yet to be appraised, of which the vast majority are located in rural zones. At times in which most Puerto Rican families are experiencing a serious financial crisis, unappraised properties shall not pay one single cent of the new tax
rate provided under Act No. 7 of March 9, 2009, as amended, known as the Special Act to Declare a State of Fiscal Emergency and to Establish a Comprehensive Fiscal Stabilization Plan to Salvage the Credit of Puerto Rico. Even under the presumption that there are 200,000 unappraised units in Puerto Rico, this is an extraordinary number that translates into a shortage of funds. It must be noted that in all likelihood, increasing the real property tax rate would not have been necessary, as provided for in Act No. 7, supra, if Puerto Rico had an efficient property appraisal process. Without a doubt, the submittal of plans in digital format at the Municipal Revenue Collection Center shall be beneficial, since this would thus eliminate the digital format plan conversion, the plan geopositioning, and the vectorial format conversion processes. It is well known that these tasks are quite time-consuming for the Digital Cadastre, for which reason, if digital plans are submitted, the property segregation process would improve by 70% in terms of the time employed at present. The digital format must be georeferenced in Lambert coordinates pursuant to Act No. 264 of November 16, 2002. Said Act established the State Flat Coordinate System with the Lambert Conformal Conic Projection method as the official map system for all agencies and municipalities of the Government of Puerto Rico. The purpose is that all projects be presented in this system so as to have a uniform cartographical projection that contributes to a speedy, clear, and efficient exchange of geographical information. As a matter of fact, on September 14 of this year, CRIM issued Administrative Order No. 09-05 to establish as a requirement that all
land segregations shall be made by the use of state flat coordinates under the North American Datum of 1983 Lambert Conic Conformal Projection method, or its latest version. Likewise, the Law requires that the digital format be of a widely accepted vectorial kind and the AutoCAD export format known as DXF (Drawing Exchange Format), which has a wide variety of supportive programming, including the Geographical Information System used at the Municipal Revenue Collection Center. Even with the approval of Act No. 264, supra, it is necessary to eliminate at CRIM the plan conversion into digital format, so that the process is much more streamlined and effective. The submittal of plans in digital format is definitely a great advancement for the Puerto Rico Digital Cadastre. This Legislative Assembly deems it meritorious and necessary to provide that the submittal of all plans to the Municipal Revenue Collection Center for the registration of a property shall be done in digital format. This Act shall certainly contribute to impart promptness and efficiency to the property registration process. BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF PUERTO RICO: Section 1. The submittal of all plans to the Municipal Revenue Collection Center for the registration of a property shall be done in digital format, so as to provide for a prompt and efficient property registration process. The plans shall be submitted as provided for in Act No. 235 of August 30, 2000, known as the Puerto Rico Multipurpose and Multidisciplinary Cadastre Act, by an authorized professional, that is, a professional surveyor or a person with a license to draw plans.
Section 2. The digital format to be used shall be of a widely accepted vectorial kind or any other as the Municipal Revenue Collection Center deems convenient to meet the purposes of this Act. Provided, that the AutoCAD export format known as DXF (Drawing Exchange Format) may be used. Section 3. Digital plans shall be georeferenced by using the North American Datum of 1983 Lambert Conic Conformal projection method or its latest version, pursuant to Act No. 264 of November 16, 2002, to achieve a uniform cartographical projection that contributes to a speedy, clear, and efficient exchange of geographical information. Section 4. The Executive Director of the Municipal Revenue Collection Center is hereby authorized to adopt any such rules as necessary and convenient to meet the purposes of this Act. Section 5. This Act shall take effect immediately after its approval.
CERTIFICATION I hereby certify to the Secretary of State that the following Act No. 216-2009 (S. B. 1204) of the 2 nd Session of the 16 th Legislature of Puerto Rico: AN ACT to provide that the submittal of all plans to the Municipal Revenue Collection Center for the registration of a property shall be done in digital format by an authorized professional, in order to eliminate the process of plan conversion into digital format in said agency and to provide a prompt and efficient property registration process. has been translated from Spanish to English and that the English version is correct. In San Juan, Puerto Rico, on the 15 th day of October, 2012. María del Mar Ortiz Rivera