Puerto Rico News Digest For July 2, 2015

FINES FOR WATER MISUSE NOW IN EFFECT

Puerto Rico's water utility, AAA, began to issue fines yesterday to water
users who were in violation of rules approved on June 15 and which be-
came effective yesterday. The rules cover all 48 municipalities which are
suffering from drought, for as long as the crisis lasts. Fines range from $250
for residential users to $750 for commercial users. Among the actions that
can prompt a fine: hosing down driveways or other structures, filling water
fountains that don't reuse water, washing vehicles with water that is not being
reused, filling swimming pools, watering grass or plants from 8 AM to 6 PM,
knowing of broken water pipes or leaks on your property and not fixing them,
letting water run indiscriminately, using water for recreational purposes and
performing maintenance on water tanks if it means dumping more than 85%
of the water in it. You are allowed to wash a car with a bucket, wash laundry
and water plants at night.

NEW AREAS ADDED TO WATER RATIONING PLAN

AAA has announced that water rationing will be extended to new areas star-
ting this coming Monday, July 6. The areas to be affected are: Guaynabo,
Montehiedra, Caimito and La Morenita in Bayamón. Little to no rain is ex-
pected over the drought-stricken areas of the island in the coming days.

RATINGS AGENCIES DOWNGRADE PR DEBT

From The San Juan Daily Star:

Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services (S&P) and Fitch Ratings lowered their
credit ratings for Puerto Rico on Tuesday after Gov. Alejandro García Pa-
dilla said the commonwealth needed to restructure its debt. S&P said it
placed all of Puerto Rico’s debt at the same ‘CCC-minus’ level. Fitch Ra-
tings also downgraded Puerto Rico’s general obligation (GO) and related
debt ratings to ‘CC’ from ‘B’.

GOV'T AGENCIES TO UNDERGO MAJOR CHANGES

From Caribbean Business:

Agency consolidation, municipal office closures and providing more govern-
ment services online were some of the "profound changes" public agencies
could face to reduce costs, La Fortaleza Chief of Staff Víctor Suárez said
Wednesday. "There are agencies that will undergo profound changes in how
they provide services to the government and the way the government commu-
nicates with these agencies. That is a discussion that had already begun and
will be discussed more intensely in the coming days," Suárez said at a press
conference at La Fortaleza. The drastic transformations have been discussed
at meetings convened by Gov. Alejandro García Padilla to hear ideas and see
which mechanisms he will implement to restructure the island economically
following his announcement Monday that the island's debt is "unpayable."

PUBLIC WORKERS TO KEEP GETTING PAID

From Reuters:

Puerto Rico's public workers should not worry about getting their paychecks as
the government will keep paying them, at a cost of $250 million every 15 days,
the commonwealth's House Speaker Jaime Perello said Wednesday. A key bill
that has secured legislative passage and that is expected to be signed into law
this week will boost the island's cashflow for its operations by allowing it to ra-
ise $400 million in Tax & Revenue Anticipation Notes (TRANs). The govern-
ment will raise the cash for the notes from three public insurance corporations.