Yucatan Living

Yucatan News: Ayuntatel and Crime

6 January 2015 News 2

Welcome to 2015: The Year of Inclusion in Yucatan!

Merida: Property Tax Collections Soaring

One might think that, if property taxes are raised, as they were for 2014 in Merida, it would be a burden to middle and lower income property owners and collections would begin to lag. However, just the opposite has happened. In Merida, at the end of November, property tax collections were running 12% higher than the city’s goal, 17% higher than all of 2013, and 19% higher than last year in the same month. What would cause so many people to rush to happily pay their property taxes when this is traditionally the kind of tax that comes in slowly at best and, all too often, in arrears? The answer seems to be pride of ownership and value for their money. The citizens of Merida can take pride in the fact that they actually own a piece of this city and they are receiving value, in the form of both services and respect, in exchange for their hard earned pesos. The next stories are just a few examples of what the City is doing for its citizens.

The City of Merida: Citizen Services

You can call or visit whenever you need assistance from the City of Merida:
Call: 070 or 924-4000.
Chat: www.merida.gob.mx and select Citizen Services.
In Person: office located on the first floor of the Municipal Palace.
Hours:
Phones and Chat: Monday – Friday: 7:30 AM to 10:30 PM; Saturday: 8:30 AM to 6:30 PM; Sunday: 8:30 AM to 3:30 PM.
Office Hours: Monday – Friday: 8:00 AM to 8:00 PM and Saturdays from 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM.
Citizens served in 2014: Phone and Chat: 150,000, In Person: 25,000
Examples of Average Resolution Times: Street light outages: 48 hours, Dead animals in street: 2 hours

Merida Joined Buen Finthrough Part of Plan de Apoyo a Deudores

This Buen Fin program is part of the national Plan of Support for Debtors, which is a cooperative program between the Government of Mexico and the Association of Mexican Banks. The program provides a variety of loans to property owners, including loans for down payments on homes and even loans to pay property taxes that are in arrears. If these property owners remain current on their payments, they get the additional benefit of discounted payments over the next five years. When Merida joined this program in 2014, the city collected over $8 million pesos in back taxes in four days and 3,000 property owners were caught up. While 3,000 may not seem like a lot when compared to the well over a million people who live in Merida, it is a great number when we realize that there are now 3,000 more families who, as homeowners in good standing, are now more willing than ever to contribute to the cultural and financial security and tranquility of life in Merida.

Diversity in Merida: “For Want of a Nail…”

Around the world, societies tend to divide themselves into the “haves” and the “have nots,” with the haves often blaming the have nots for failing to take advantage of all of the opportunities they have been given to better themselves. It is a recipe for cultural disaster that has just been thrown out of the window in Merida. Instead, there are now 33 centers, located in marginal areas of the municipality, each with neighborhood staff members who are asking the people what they need in order to change direction and make their lives better. The goal here is to bring marginalized populations forward and significantly decrease the social and financial gaps in society in the City of Merida. For many of Merida’s citizens, this hand up might just be the nail that saves the kingdom. The proverb “For Want of a Nail…” can be found here.

New Year’s Eve is Merida’s Biggest Night Out

Every year, we watch Yucatan’s holidays so we can give our readers an idea, far in advance, of what they should prepare for next year. New Year’s Eve is Merida’s biggest night away from home of the entire year. In fact, we would go so far as to suggest that New Year’s Eve is all of Mexico’s biggest night out. People want to eat in restaurants, see fireworks shows, and generally enjoy whatever is going on. All of this is fine, right up to the point where drinking and driving get involved. This year, the City of Merida alone had 60 new checkpoints with breathalyzers and the State of Yucatan took this issue just as seriously. Next year, we suggest you find a designated driver early, make a reservation at your favorite restaurant at least a month in advance, and then relax, knowing that you will have the best New Year’s Eve ever! To read more about this holiday in Merida, visit Yucatan Living’s Ring In the New Year… 12 Times!

Yucatan: The State of the State

Crime Statistics for 2014
The statistics for 2014 are coming in and Yucatan still rules as the safest state in Mexico. The following statistics were reported at year’s end:
• Homicide: 2 per 100,000. National average was 21.8.
• Homicides: 98 (59 culpable, 39 intentional)
• Kidnappings: Zero. Also with zero: Aguascalientes, and Baja California Sur.
• Kidnappings and journalists killed or disappeared: Zero. National average was two, but also with zero were: Aguascalientes, Baja California, Baja California Sur, Campeche, Chiapas, Colima, Mexico City, Guanajuato, Hidalgo, Jalisco, Morelos, Oaxaca, Quintana Roo, Tlaxcala, and Zacatecas.
• Stolen vehicles: 10.4 per 100,000. National average: 160 per 100,000
• Stolen vehicles: least reported crime (1%). National average: 8% of all reported crimes.
Complete results for these studies can be found at IMCO’s State Competitiveness website. IMCO provides information to be used by state governments to help accelerate the process of change. IMCO rates Yucatan as the safest state in Mexico and we agree whole heartedly.

Adaptive Buses Arrive for the Disabled

Six municipalities and the Center for Special Education and Rehabilitation in Merida each received a brand new bus with a lift for wheelchairs. Each bus has four docks for wheelchairs and space for 13 other disabled persons to sit. The goal is to make sure that disabled Yucatecos are able to get to and from work, school, and medical appointments, which will remove economic barriers for them and their families. The municipalities that received the adaptive buses included: Dzilam Gonzalez, Espita, Izamal, Progreso and Tekax. And the State of Yucatan did not stop there! They also delivered 50 adapted motorcycles, 176 pairs of eyeglasses, and 107 hearing aids. This is on top of the 1,100 hearing aids already delivered this month. Also, over 600 disabled Yucatecos received desperately needed prostheses in 2014 alone. The Governor insists that, before the close of his administration, all Yucatecos will walk together as equals and that includes those who are differently abled.

Healthy Bodies, Healthy Minds

Children learn best when they have healthy food. Adults work best and care for their families when they eat well. In the past, being poor led only to malnutrition and life-long poverty. Yucatan has decided to close that road forever and embark on a nutritional campaign that includes every Yucateco in Yucatan state.
• LICONSA is a national program of support for dairies that supply low cost milk to the poor. Yucatan now has 225 Liconsa local dairies that supply excellent quality milk to 56,000 people in Yucatan. Soon, a dairy in Merida will receive its certification and 26,000 more citizens will have affordable milk. This program is growing in importance as the need is recognized in children, women who are pregnant or breastfeeding, and for those who are chronically ill, disabled or elderly.
• SEDESOL has joined with LICONSA to provide free breakfasts for 5,041 children who attend public kindergartens in Merida. There are 196 of these daycare centers in Merida, each serving the needs of the children of working mothers.

Cultural Adaptations: Who Adapts to Whom?

There is an amazing array of foreigners in Yucatan, each bringing their own culture with them. This is especially clear on holidays, when foreigners celebrate with their own traditions and often meet in restaurants that serve the cuisine of their home countries. It would not be surprising if 500 years of immigration were to change the culture of Yucatan, but that has not happened. Instead, Yucatan has absorbed these foreigners and they have adapted to the culture of Yucatan. It seems that thousands of years of history trumps the relatively short amount of time that foreigners have been in the land of the Maya. This does not mean, however, that foreigners have lost their cultural characteristics. Instead, foreigners are encouraged to keep the best of their cultures and integrate themselves into the fabric of life in Yucatan. This diversity is part of Yucatan’s strength and nowhere does that show more than in the celebrations on major holidays. It is a new year now in Yucatan and, on New Year’s Eve, all who were here were Yucatecos.

2015: Dates You Might Want to Remember in Yucatan

These dates are all governed by the cycles of the Sun and/or Moon:
February 24: Mardi Gras (festivities will begin the Wednesday night prior)
March 20 at 4:45 PM: Spring Equinox
March 29: Palm Sunday
April 4: Total Lunar Eclipse
April 5: Easter Sunday
June 21 at 11:38 AM: Midsummer Equinox
July 2 & 31: Blue Moon
September 23 at 3:20 PM: Fall Equinox
September 27: Super Moon
September 28: Total Lunar Eclipse
December 21 at 10:48 PM: Winter Equinox