Mayors in Puerto Rico

Mayor
Style	The Honorable
Term length	4 years
Formation	several laws that were repealed in favor of the Autonomous Municipalities Act of 1991

The mayors of Puerto Rico encompass the different mayors of the municipalities of Puerto Rico; each mayor being the highest-ranking officer of its corresponding municipality. Several laws existed that created the post of mayor in each municipality but they were all repealed in favor of a broad and encompassing law known as the Autonomous Municipalities Act of 1991.

The mayors do not constitute a body, and are not required by law to do so, but they have voluntarily assembled into two organizations:

Each mayor is also the commander-in-chief of its corresponding municipal police.

Historically mayors used to be minor political figures in the Puerto Rican landscape as the executive branch of the government of Puerto Rico exerted an overarching authority over the municipalities. However, in recent years, the executive branch has adopted a decentralized form of government and started to focus on statewide politics rather than on local or regional ones. These policies have granted a high degree of autonomy to its municipalities and their mayors, and has allowed certain highly populated municipalities with robust local economies —such as Caguas and San Juan— to prosper and exercise a high degree of autonomy, while leaving others with mild or little population —such as Florida and Moca— with challenges to overcome. Nevertheless, these policies have made mayors highly influential on the local, regional, and statewide economy of Puerto Rico, as well as in its politics and society. An example of this would be the Willie Tax which was implemented independently in Caguas by its former mayor, William Miranda Marín. The tax was subsequently adopted by other municipalities and eventually evolved into the statewide sales tax known as the Puerto Rico Sales and Use Tax (IVU).

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Wikipedia