Local government in Costa Rica

Costa Rica’s municipal system is organized under the Municipal Code, the specific law that regulates the local governments. Municipalities are the second-level administration in Costa Rica after the central government. Each one of the 81 cantons of Costa Rica has a Municipality or Municipal Government constituted by a Mayor and a proportional number of members of the Municipal Council. Districts of each of the cantons also have their local authorities and representatives. Some of the services manage by local governments include; solid waste management, building and administration of local roads, parks, libraries and schools, recollection of municipal taxes and in some cases local security. Worth noticing that in Costa Rica city and municipality are not the same thing, as a canton can have several cities within its borders, generally as districts.

Costa Rica’s first local government was Garcimuñoz Castle, founded in 1561 by Costa Rica’s conqueror Juan de Cavallón. In 1564 Juan Vazquez de Coronado moved the local government from Garcimuñoz to El Guarco and called it Cartago. 1813 there were 15 local governments in Costa Rica known as Cabildos, including those of the main cities; San José, Alajuela, Cartago and Heredia. In 1867 the first laws are enacted that gave local governments certain autonomy and power over local decisions. After the independence from Spain the position of the governments varies, as some presidents are more centralist and some others are more supportive of local rule. The 1825 Constitution establishes that every town should have a local government no matter how small it was. Yet, this was eliminated during Braulio Carrillo's dictatorship in 1841 as it was seen as a treat toward the central authority.

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