The Municipalities

Article 29. Municipalities shall be governed by organic law.

The organic law will be voted in two readings:

• with a minimum interval of 10 days in between
• approved by 2/3 of the members of the Municipal Chamber

the Municipal Chamber shall:

• promulgate the organic law
• observe the principles established in:
  • this Constitution
  • the Constitution of the respective state
  • the following precepts:

1. election of the Mayor, Vice-Mayor and Councilmen for a term of office of 4 years, by means of direct election held simultaneously throughout the country
2. election of the Mayor and Vice-Mayor on the first Sunday of October of the year preceding the end of the term of office of those they are to succeed, subject, in the case of municipalities with over two hundred thousand voters, to the provisions set forth in article 77
3. investiture of the Mayor and Vice-Mayor on January 1 of the year subsequent to the year of the election
4. the following limits shall apply to the composition of Municipal Chambers:

5. compensation of the Mayor, the Vice-Mayor, and the Local Cabinet Members established by an act of the Town Council, as provided by articles 37, XI, 39, paragraph 4, 150, II, 153, III, and 153, paragraph 2, I;
6. the compensation of Local Councilmen shall be stipulated by their respective Town Councils in each legislative term for the subsequent one, with due regard for the provisions of this Constitution, in accordance with the criteria set forth in the respective Organic Law and the following maximum limits:

7. the total expenditure with the remuneration of the City Councilmen may not exceed the amount of five percent of the revenue of the Municipality
8. inviolability of the Councilmen on account of their opinions, words and votes while in office and within the jurisdiction of the municipality;
9. prohibitions and incompatibilities, while in the exercise of the office of City Councilman, similar, where applicable, to the provisions of this Constitution for the members of the National Congress and of the Constitution of the respective state for the members of the Legislative Assembly
10. trial of the Mayor before the Court of Justice
11. organization of the legislative and supervisory functions of the Municipal Chamber
12. cooperation of the representative associations in municipal planning
13. public initiative in the presenting of bills of specific interest to the municipality, the city or the neighborhoods, by means of the manifestation of at least 5% of the electorate;
14. loss of the office of mayor, as provided in article 28

Article 29-A. The total expenditures of the Municipal Legislative Branch, including the compensation of Local Councilmen and excluding outlays on retired personnel, may not exceed the following percentages, related to the total amount, effectively realized in the prior year, of tax revenues and the transfers set forth in paragraph 5 of article 153, and in articles 158 and 159

1. 7% in the case of Municipalities having up to 100k (one hundred thousand) inhabitants;
2. 6% (six percent) in the case of Municipalities having between 100k (one hundred thousand) and 300k (three hundred thousand) inhabitants;
3. 5% (five percent) in the case of Municipalities having between 300,001 (three hundred thousand and one) inhabitants and 500k (five hundred thousand) inhabitants;
4. 4.5% (four and five tenths per cent) in the case of Municipalities having between 500,001 (five hundred thousand and one) and 3kk (three million) inhabitants;
5. 4% (four percent) in the case of Municipalities having between 3k,001 (three million and one) and 8kk (eight million) inhabitants;
6. 3.5% (three and five tenths per cent) in the case of Municipalities having over 8k,001 (eight million and one) inhabitants.

Paragraph 1. The Town Council shall not spend more than seventy percent of its allocation on the payroll, including expenses on the compensation of its member councilmen.

39Paragraph 2. The following acts of the Municipal Mayor are crimes of malversation:

1. to effect a remittance in excess of the limits stipulated in this article;
2. not to effect a remittance before the twentieth day of each month; Law.
3. to effect a remittance below the proportion stipulated in the Budgetary Paragraph 3. It shall be a crime of malversation for the President of the Town Council to disobey paragraph 1 of this article. Article 30. The municipalities have the power to: (CA No. 53, 2006)
4. legislate upon matters of local interest;
5. supplement federal and state legislations where pertinent;
6. institute and collect taxes within their jurisdiction, as well as to apply their revenues, without prejudice to the obligation of rendering accounts and publishing balance sheets within the periods established by law;
7. create, organize and suppress districts, with due regard for the state legislation;
8. organize and render, directly or by concession or permission, the public services of local interest, including mass-transportation, which is of essential nature;
9. maintain, with the technical and financial cooperation of the Federal Government and the state, programs of infant and elementary school education;
10. provide, with the technical and financial cooperation of the Union and the state, health services to the population;
11. promote, wherever pertinent, adequate territorial ordaining, by means of planning and control of use, apportionment and occupation of the urban soil;
12. promote the protection of the local historic and cultural heritage, with due regard for federal and state legislation and supervision. Article 31. Supervision of the municipality shall be exercised by the municipal legislature, through outside control, and by the internal control systems of the municipal executive branch, in the manner called for by law. Paragraph 1. Outside control of the Municipal Chamber shall be exercised with the assistance of the state or municipal Audit Court, or of the Municipal Audit Councils or Courts, where they exist. Paragraph 2. The prior report, issued by the competent agency, on the accounts to be rendered annually by the Mayor, shall not prevail only by a decision of two-thirds of the members of the City Council. Paragraph 3. The accounts of the municipalities shall remain, for sixty days annually, at the disposal, for examination and consideration, of any taxpayer, who may question their legitimacy, as the law provides.

Paragraph 4. The creation of municipal courts, councils or agencies of accounts is forbidden.