No good deed goes unpunished (Episode #124)

[\GoBillsInDallas/]

http://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/26/us/puerto-rico-tax-utilities-prepa.html

 

[TakeYouToTasker]

The audacity of these people is unreal.

 

 

"The Federal Emergency Management Agency is expected to reimburse mainland power companies for their work in Puerto Rico. Donald Caetano, a spokesman for the agency, said that companies that were “savvy enough” to include the taxes in their original contract language could also have the tax bills reimbursed by FEMA by submitting those expenses to Puerto Rico’s public utility, Prepa.

But that would leave federal taxpayers responsible for millions of dollars flowing into municipal coffers in Puerto Rico beyond the repair costs the federal government is already paying."

 

"The 15-year recession in Puerto Rico has left municipalities eager to collect taxes, said Tómas J. Torres, executive director of the Institute for Competitiveness and Sustainable Economy, a nonprofit in San Juan. He said that linemen from the mainland making much more than their Prepa counterparts could not help but produce an impression that the utilities could easily pay the tax — whether they made profits in Puerto Rico or not.

“They should not be mad,” Mr. Torres said. “This is an issue of communication and understanding Puerto Rican law more than anything else.” He added, “It’s a matter of sitting down at the table and sorting out any argument that they have.”

 

[Azalin]

3 hours ago, TakeYouToTasker said:

The audacity of these people is unreal.

 

 

Indeed. Temerity, gall, and chutzpah all work too.