This Sunday, June 3, over 40 thousand inhabitants of Nicoya, Guanacaste are called to vote on the administrative independence for the district of Nosara.

The plebiscite which will be overseen by the Supreme Electoral Court (TSE), will decide on whether or not to form the Municipal District Council of Nosara.

In other words, Nosara will continue to be part of the Nicoya Municipality but it will have administrative independence, being able to invest the money they collect within their district’s needs.

The Municipal District Councils was created with the idea that far away districts have the possibility of managing their own resources allowing for the development of their community depending on needs. There are currently 8 Municipal District Councils in the country.

Currently, all funds gathered in taxes by the municipality is distributed based on social solidarity and according to the needs of the county among the different districts.

In order to become a Municipal District, the votes in favor must represent at least 15% of the total number of voters registered in the county, in this case, at least 6,129 inhabitants of Nicoya must vote Yes in order for the district to win administrative independence.

TSE has established 86 voting tables distributed in different parts of the county. The plebiscite will take place from 7 a.m. through 5 p.m.

The official result of the plebiscite will be given 15 days later.

Information published by news site The Voice of Guanacaste states that “The district of Nosara contributes roughly ¢627 million ($1.06 million) to Nicoya city hall every year, according to estimates by local government authorities”. This amount represents roughly a 10% of the Municipality’s budget.