P.R. Laws tit. 22, § 306
The amount that shall be assessed and levied upon a given tract of land included in the irrigation district shall be determined as follows:
The Secretary of the Treasury of Puerto Rico shall calculate the amount of the interest and principal or sinking fund due upon outstanding irrigation bonds for the ensuing fiscal year, and shall add thereto the amount estimated and certified as estimated to him by the Secretary of Transportation and Public Works for the cost of operation and maintenance of the irrigation system for the said ensuing fiscal year. He shall then either add to or subtract from the amount so obtained the estimated amount of any deficit or surplus, as the case may be, resulting in connection with the Irrigation Fund by reason of the operations of the current fiscal year. From this amount he shall subtract the amount estimated and certified to him by the Secretary of Transportation and Public Works as the receipts for the ensuing fiscal year from any water-power plant developed in connection with the irrigation system (until such time as the total bonded indebtedness incurred on account of the irrigation system shall have been paid in full); and the amount estimated and certified as estimated to him by the Secretary of Transportation and Public Works as receipts for the ensuing fiscal year from any of the sources except from the issues of bonds and from special assessments herein provided for to be levied upon the land in the irrigation district. To the amount so determined the Secretary of the Treasury shall add an amount equivalent to five (5) per centum of the total as a margin of safety for delayed collections, and the amount thus determined by the Secretary of the Treasury of Puerto Rico, subject to the limitations and provisions hereinafter set forth, shall be and constitute the total sum assessed for the said fiscal year, and the same shall be levied upon the lands included at the time in the irrigation district (including any lands owned by the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico which form part of the said district, which lands shall be liable for and shall pay the taxes levied hereunder in the same manner as the other lands included in the said irrigation district); Provided, That if any portion of the principal of, and interest on, any bonds falling due in any year cannot be paid under an assessment levied according to the provisions of this section, then the amount which cannot so be paid and for the refunding of which provision is hereinafter made, shall not be deemed a deficit in any subsequent year; Provided, further, That prior to the certifying by the Secretary of Transportation and Public Works of the amount thus estimated by him as receipts from the water-power plant, the Secretary of Transportation and Public Works, if in his judgment it is advisable, may deduct from the amount thus estimated by him a sum not to exceed twenty-five percent(25%) of the said amount for the development and extension of the said water-power plant.
No tract of land included in the irrigation district shall pay any tax until it shall have received or shall have been offered water from the irrigation system, for a period of twelve (12) months (said water to have been received after the inclusion of the said land in the temporary irrigation district or, if the said land is first included in the permanent irrigation district, after the said inclusion); but thereafter the said tract of land shall be liable on the regular assessment dates for the same taxes as would have been the case had all the lands in the irrigation district been assessed under the provisions of this section; Provided, That the said tract of land shall pay a tax for the portion of the half year (either fiscal or calendar, as the case may be), if any, remaining after the completion of the said period of twelve (12) months for which no assessments are paid in accordance with the foregoing provisions; and such assessment as may be due for any part of such portion of a semester shall be paid on the first day of the month following the termination of the aforesaid period for twelve (12) months for which no assessment is paid under the foregoing provisions.
Assessments under the foregoing provisions shall be made upon each particular tract of land in the proportion that the area of such tract of land bears to the whole number of acres included in the said irrigation district. The amounts resulting from such computation, or if such amounts exceed the amount which can be assessed under the provisions hereof, then such maximum amount as may be assessed under the said provisions, shall be extended upon the tax roll for the different tracts at the time constituting the irrigation district.
The tax roll so extended shall be completed by the Secretary of the Treasury of Puerto Rico on or before the first day of July of each year, and is hereby imposed as a lien upon the said lands (but not as a personal liability upon the owners thereof) in favor of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and shall constitute a tax the lien of which shall be superior and prior in law to any right, claim or lien of any other nature, save and except the general taxes of Puerto Rico as provided by law, and such mortgages as are referred to herein (as well as crop-loan credits constituted by credit associations or cooperatives at present organized or which may be organized hereafter within the irrigation district), and such assessments shall become due and the Secretary of the Treasury of Puerto Rico shall proceed to the collection thereof, and to the attachment and sale of the land to enforce payment, in the manner and at the time now or hereafter provided by law for the collection and enforcement of other real property taxes; Provided, That the Secretary of the Treasury of Puerto Rico is hereby empowered to attach all or part of the real property of the irrigable zone in order to enforce the collection of the assessments hereby levied; Provided, further, That he can never attach real property of the irrigable zone when such property, after all charges or encumbrances thereon have been deducted, has a value, for the purposes of taxation, of more than double the amount due; except that in the case of taxes assessed for a period of less than six (6) months as hereinbefore provided, the said taxes shall be assessed, levied and collected as hereinbefore provided; Provided, however, That notwithstanding anything hereinbefore contained to the contrary, the assessment on said land shall be at the rate of six dollars ($6) an acre a year for the period, if any, between the end of the period of twelve (12) months during which no assessment is payable, as hereinbefore provided, and the beginning of the next succeeding half year (either fiscal or calendar, as the case may be). The assessment on the said land shall be at the rate of six dollars ($6) an acre a year for the entire first fiscal or calendar year, as the case may be, after the completion of the said period of twelve (12) months, and at the rate of six dollars ($6) an acre a year for the entire second fiscal or calendar year, as the case may be, following said termination of the above-mentioned period of twelve (12) months, and at the rate of seven dollars ($7) an acre a year for the entire third fiscal or calendar year, as the case may be, subsequent to the said termination of the stated period of twelve (12) months, and at the rate of eight dollars ($8) an acre a year for the entire fourth fiscal or calendar year, as the case may be, subsequent to said termination of the mentioned period of twelve (12) months, and at the rate of nine dollars ($9) an acre a year for the entire fifth fiscal or calendar year, as the case may be, after the said termination of the mentioned period of twelve (12) months, and at the rate of six dollars ($6) an acre a year for the entire sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth and tenth fiscal or calendar years, as the case may be, after the termination of the said period of twelve (12) months. The assessment on the said land shall be at the rate of ten dollars ($10) an acre a year for the entire eleventh fiscal or calendar year, as the case may be, after the completion of the said period of twelve (12) months, and at the rate of eleven dollars ($11) an acre a year for the entire twelfth fiscal or calendar year, as the case may be, after the completion of the said period of twelve (12) months, and at a rate of twelve dollars ($12) an acre a year for the entire thirteenth fiscal or calendar year, as the case may be, after the completion of the said period of twelve (12) months, and at a rate of thirteen dollars ($13) an acre a year for the entire fourteenth fiscal or calendar year, as the case may be, after the completion of the said period of twelve (12) months, and at the rate of fourteen dollars ($14) an acre a year for the entire fifteenth fiscal or calendar year, as the case may be, after the completion of the said period of twelve (12) months. From the sixteenth fiscal or calendar year, and thereafter, and after the said termination of the stated period of twelve (12) months, the rate of assessment on said land shall never be more than fifteen dollars ($15) an acre for a fiscal or calendar year, as the case may be; and for the purpose of providing for the amortization of the principal of such bonds as may fall due in any fiscal year, for the payment of interest, operation and maintenance and of the deficit, if any, of the preceding year, and of the five percent (5%) margin of security hereinbefore provided for, less the surplus, if any, remaining from the preceding year, and any receipts from other sources, as provided, the Legislature shall annually provide such amounts as may be necessary for such purposes, in such form and manner as it may deem advisable; Provided, however, That no assessment levied as hereinbefore provided shall be paid on any tract of land which, prior to the date of payment of said tax, has received or been offered water from the irrigation system for more than one entire fiscal year, unless the said tract of land shall have received or shall have been offered water from the Irrigation System during the preceding fiscal year, as shown by the records of the Irrigation Service, to the amount of at least two (2) acre-feet per acre, during the first six (6) months of said fiscal year, and at least two (2) acre-feet per acre during the second six (6) months; Provided, further, That when, in the above case, the said assessment is due upon the first of July terminating the fiscal year to which the above rule is to be applied, then the said land shall pay the said assessment as if it had received or had been offered water from the irrigation system during the first six (6) months of the said fiscal year to the amount of at least two (2) acre-feet per acre; Provided, further, That no assessment levied as above provided shall be paid on any tract of land prior to the date of payment of the said tax, has not received water or has been offered water from the Irrigation System for more than one entire fiscal year, unless the said tract of land shall have received or shall have been offered water from the Irrigation System, as shown by the records of the Irrigation Service, to the amount of at least two (2) acre-feet per acre, during the next preceding half-year (either calendar or fiscal, as the case may be) ending more than one month prior to the date of the said payment; Provided, further, however, That the foregoing exemptions from the payment of taxes, conditioned upon the receipt of a certain amount of water by the holders of irrigated land, or on the offer of water made to them for land in the irrigation district shall cease to be operative and effective at such times after the beginning of the permanent irrigation district as the Secretary of Transportation and Public Works shall certify to the Secretary of the Treasury of Puerto Rico that each and every fundamental integral part of the said irrigation system has been constructed.
It is understood that the assessment roll extended as provided in this section shall constitute a tax the lien for which shall be paramount and preferent in law to any other right, claim or lien, except the general taxes of Puerto Rico, as provided by law, except crop-loan credits constituted by credit associations or cooperatives at present organized or which may be organized hereafter within the irrigation district, and except also such mortgages as may be constituted for a term of eighteen (18) years or more, payable in fixed annual instalments, provided said mortgages are constituted at a rate of not to exceed six and one-half percent (6 ½ %) annually, and for any of the following purposes:
(a) For permanent improvements in the properties.
(b) For the purchase of fertilizer, seeds, cattle or agricultural implements.
(c) For the cancellation of mortgages or the payment of debts contracted for agricultural purposes; and Provided, That their object is to permit the landholders of the irrigation district to avail themselves as far as possible of the advantages offered them by the irrigation system; it being understood that such encumbrances shall not be in excess of one hundred dollars ($100) of principal for each cuerda.
History —June 19, 1919, No. 63, p. 348, § 29; Apr. 21, 1928, No. 29, p. 178, § 2; July 3, 1929, J.R. No. 12, p. 56, § 2; May 15, 1931, No. 96, p. 578, § 1; May 15, 1934, No. 70, p. 476, § 1.