SAN JOSE – Fernando Herrero, the besieged Minister of the Treasury and Chief Revenue Collector, resigned from his position earlier this afternoon. According to an official press release issued by Casa Presidencial in Zapote, the Minister tendered his resignation in an effort to ensure that ongoing Fiscal Reform efforts do not end up being eclipsed by his alleged tax evasion.

In his resignation letter, Herrero indicated that he wants to spend more time with his family and distance himself from governmental activities. In his letter to President Laura Chinchilla he added: “another reason for my resignation is to protect you and the administration. The ongoing efforts demand your full attention, as well as that of your cabinet, and I will not allow my name being used to block the success of the great reforms we dreamed about.”

In addition to the Minister’s resignation, our President accepted the renouncement of duties of Florisabel Rodriguez, a presidential aide who is also Herrero’s wife. Vice President Luis Liberman will step in to assume duties for the time being.

Minister Herrero was the target of an investigation by prominent news daily La Nacion, which looked at property tax records of several public officials, including Herrero. That investigation prompted government officials to scramble and update real estate valuations, as reported by The Costa Rica Star in a previous article.

The extremely detailed multimedia report by La Nacion included photographs, public records and even a satellite map of the properties in question.

In the case of Minister Herrero, La Nacion offered as an example a property that was leased to Fuerza Publica for more than a decade. The property in question is located in Escazu, jointly owned by Herrero and his wife. The amount of the lease agreement calls for 1.5 million colones as monthly payment (about $3,000).

Neither the owners nor the municipality had bothered to update the value of the property in the last 12 years, an omission that -according to estimates by La Nacion- translates into $7,200 of uncollected revenue over the years.

The departing Minister took a lot of flack for his failure to update the values of his real estate holdings. He was interviewed by Teletica Channel 7 and explained that he was under the impression that the responsibility of updating property values fell on the municipalities. In the days that followed the article on La Nacion and the interview by Teletica, the Minister grew uncomfortable, and at one point he hinted that he would not resign.

Herrero has been instrumental in the tax collection efforts of the last couple of years, something that has reduced the deficit -but not quite enough. Strict revenue collection and assessment initiatives have been attached to the Fiscal Reform Plan, a legislative proposal that is currently being debated in our National Assembly and the courts. Herrero was also instrumental in formulating the Fiscal Reform laws.

Source: Casa Presidencial