Tecate

Baja Norte, Breaking News, Ensenada, Local Politics, Mexicali, Rosarito, San Felipe, San Quintin, Tecate, Tijuana

Baja Voters Face a Judicial Marathon: 220+ Picks in Under 12 Minutes

On June 1, every citizen in Baja California will be hit with one of the most daunting ballots in history—over 220 judicial positions, including 172 state-level and 50 federal posts, with roughly 1,000 candidates in the mix.

According to election officials, casting a vote could take anywhere from 10 to 12 minutes per person. That’s right: voters will need to sift through hundreds of names to choose their judges, magistrates, and ministers. The process, described during a breakfast meeting by María Guadalupe Plaza Medina from the INE, could stretch to 12 minutes as some voters take their time reading and double-checking candidate details.

To keep things moving, each polling station will be set up with 8 to 15 voting booths so multiple people can cast their ballots at once. In total, Baja California will have 2,625 polling stations—Tijuana leading with 1,396, followed by Mexicali with 730, Ensenada with 287, Playas de Rosarito with 73, Tecate with 69, San Quintín with 59, and San Felipe with 11, plus six special sites in universities and transit hubs.

This “judicial” election, a first of its kind in the country, has already prompted a significant budget request of over 241 million pesos to cover everything from printing ballots to upgrading voting materials. The federal INE has also capped campaign spending for judicial candidates at about 220,000 pesos (11,000 U.S dollars) per person to ensure fairness.

With radio, TV, print, and social media campaigns, along with forums at universities and community centers, officials are working hard to prepare voters for what promises to be a true test of patience and civic duty. Can Baja handle the judicial marathon? Only time will tell.

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 Baja Norte, Breaking News, Ensenada, Mexicali, Rosarito, San Felipe, San Quintin, Tecate, Tijuana, Weather

Baja California Weather Alert: Brace for Strong Winds, Choppy Seas, and Cooler Days

Baja California kicked off the week with some challenging weather, according to the latest CONAGUA update. Two cold fronts are barreling in from the northwest and north, mixing with the subtropical jet stream to bring intense winds, rough seas, and scattered showers across the region.

Expect wind gusts between 50 and 70 km/h across both Baja California and Baja California Sur—strong enough to whip up dust clouds and reduce visibility on the roads and in the skies. The west coast will see waves between 1 and 3 meters, posing a risk for smaller boats.

Here’s a quick rundown of what to expect in key spots:

• Tijuana: Partly cloudy with light rains during the day, and thunderstorms in the early morning. Temperatures will hover between 13°C and 17°C, with NW winds reaching up to 30 km/h at night.

• Mexicali: Overcast skies with temperatures ranging from 18°C to 29°C. Strong west winds could hit 56 km/h in the afternoon.

• Ensenada: Expect intermittent clouds with light rain, with temps from 14°C to 20°C and west winds up to 30 km/h.

• Tecate: Cloudy with heavy showers, temperatures between 10°C and 16°C, and winds around 38 km/h.

• La Rumorosa: Partly cloudy with light rain by day turning into thunderstorms later; temperatures between 8°C and 15°C with SW winds gusting up to 79 km/h at night.

• Rosarito: Similar to Tijuana, light rain with occasional early-morning thunderstorms, temperatures between 14°C and 16°C, and winds up to 29 km/h.

• San Quintín: Partly cloudy with temperatures from 12°C to 22°C and winds between 30 and 54 km/h.

• San Felipe: A mix of sun and clouds, temperatures ranging from 18°C to 24°C, and SE winds between 23 and 39 km/h.

• San Pedro Mártir: Partly cloudy skies with temperatures from 7°C to 20°C and winds up to 55 km/h.

Residents are advised to take extra precautions, whether you’re on the road or at sea. Stay safe out there, Baja!

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 Articles, Breaking News, Rosarito, Tecate, Tijuana

Gasoline Shortage Hits Tijuana, Tecate, and Rosarito!

Buckle up, folks! The gasoline shortage has hit Tijuana, Tecate, and Rosarito, and it’s not pretty. Carlos Roberto Rubio Arreola, the head honcho of the Onexpo Baja Gas Station Association in Tijuana, spilled the beans: some gas stations are already dry. Why? Because Pemex-Rosarito has hit the brakes on fuel distribution, thanks to a never-ending blockade by the residents of Maclovio Rojas, who are fed up with the lack of solutions to their property title issues.

Carlos Roberto mentioned that they’ve been chatting with Pemex to fix the mess, but as of this Tuesday, some Tijuana stations have already hung up the “No Gas” signs. Since last Sunday night, the residents of Maclovio Rojas set up camp and blocked the fuel trucks at the Pemex plant in Playas de Rosarito. Their gripe? Authorities aren’t paying attention to their property title problems.

Onexpo Baja confirmed in an official statement that their members are worried. Not only is Pemex unable to deliver fuel, but the authorized distributors are also stuck in the same boat.

Rubio Arreola warned that the problem is getting worse by the day, causing more and more gas stations to run dry. Onexpo promises to keep us in the loop about the efforts to restore fuel supplies and hopes for a quick and lasting solution to the Pemex Distribution Plant conflict. They’re as clueless about the root of the problem as we are, dear citizens.

If you can still find a gas station with fuel, fill up while you can. Some stations have already shut down, and who knows when they’ll be back in action. Good luck, and may the gas gods be with you!

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 Breaking News, Tecate, Tijuana

Tijuana-Tecate Passenger Train Announced

Mario Escobedo, head of the state economy and tourism office, said that the Tijuana-Tecate passenger train is already on the works with an initial investment of 136 million USD for a 17 miles section.

He stated that the train would be a secure, sustainable option to connect with Tijuana and Tecate, with seven stations and two terminals. A minimum of 30,000 passengers are expected to use the train every day.

This project should not be confused with the already present tourism train that goes from Tijuana to Tecate (pictured above).

Initially, the project considered a route to Ensenada. And although the plan hasn’t been cancelled, Escobedo stated that “it’s not a priority right now”, mainly because the current state government administration will only last two years and will not be able to finish a project of such magnitude.

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 Baja Norte, Breaking News, Ensenada, Rosarito, Tecate, Tijuana

Baja Burns!

Wildfires have been a common sight in Baja for years, but we had never seen something as extreme as what has been going on for the last couple days.

Severe heat and dry Santa Ana winds have caused dry vegetation to burn.

4 people have been reported dead, 2 in Tecate, 1 in Tijuana, and another one in Rosarito. Almost 100 houses have been lost to the fires, most of them yesterday, which was the day that had the worst Santa Ana winds condition.

About 50 families were evacuated from Real Del Mar, which was impressively affected by the fire.

Incredible enough, two persons were detained for causing fires that, in one case, resulted in one death. One was detained in Rosarito and another one in Tijuana.

For a couple of hours on Friday, both the toll road and the free road were closed because of the fires that were making driving there dangerous.

Authorities are recommending drinking lots of water to and of course avoid being near fires, sometimes it doesn’t look as bad until its too late.

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 Baja Norte, Columns, Ensenada, Rosarito, Tecate, Tijuana

Que Pasa In Baja?

Ensenada city workers going back to work. After a couple weeks of being on a sit-down strike, Mayor Novelo was finally able to convince them to go back to work by promising to pay the remainder of their Christmas bonuses before January 21st.

City workers are pretty pissed off, since the city has had problems paying their salaries, and now their Christmas bonuses, which for them amounts to an extra 2 months’ salary. By law, the Christmas bonus has to be equal to at least 15 days.

When he took control of the city, Mayor Novelo announced that the city was broke; since then, we have seen the effects of it. There are almost no streets in the city without potholes, and trash pickup services have been reduced to almost once a month now.

City workers don’t believe it, though; they say it’s not so much the lack of funds, but rather the inability to properly manage the situations that are affecting the city.

It has been a tough term for Mayor Novelo. He hasn’t been able to catch a break, and most people are pretty unhappy with the crises that the city is experiencing. This is probably the reason  he announced last year that he would not be running for another term.

The amount the city owes its workforce in Christmas bonuses alone is about $3.8 million USD, and this administration alone has already asked for about $11.3 million USD in loans to cover other expenses. This give you an idea how seriously the fiscal situation is for Ensenada.

AMLO comes to Baja. Our brand-new president visited Tijuana this past Sunday in order to announce the newly created free zone for the northern border along with our state governor Kiko Vega.

The president is scheduling visits to different parts of the country on weekends in order to have time during the week to attend to his presidential duties in his office in Mexico City.

He is famous now for travelling on commercial planes and even choosing the cheapest flights for his travel.

Migrants safe from police. Alma Migrante, a local non-profit group that helps immigrants know their rights, has won a trial making it illegal for local police to send immigrants guilty of committing administrative infractions to be sent to the National Migration Institute (or INM in Spanish) in order to be deported.

Representatives from Alma Migrante are stating that immigrants can only be sent for deportation if they commit a crime more serious than a minor infraction.

Although the line could be a little blurry sometimes between the two, an easy way to understand it is that an infraction would require you to pay a fine, but a crime would require jail time.

Snow is here! The civil protection office in the city of Ensenada has announced that both of our local sierras, Juarez and San Pedro Martir, have snow and are open for visits.

As always, they are recommended to drive there in a car in good condition, preferably 4×4, and bring warm clothes and supplies, especially gas and high calorie food, in case you get stranded up there.

San Pedro Martir, which always has more snow than Juarez but is also a farther away, is only open from 7:00 am to 4:00 pm every day, and is not available for overnight stays.

Jaime Nieto, head of the office, stated that the roads are not in the best shape right now, and emphasized the need for a car in good condition if you want to visit.

We’re getting more cruise ships. During 2018 a total of 270 cruise ships docked in Ensenada, carrying more than 650,000 tourists. About 70% of those tourists descended from the ship to visit the city, and they spent an average $54 dollars per person.

Tourism officials are stating that its very likely that we will get even more cruise ships this year, since some cruise liners have already booked more dates for this year. January alone has 26 arrivals in total.

Bring your own bags. Rosarito and Ensenada decided last year to eliminate plastic bags in retail shops and the new measure has been in effect since the first of the year. Steep fines were announced for offending businesses, but at least Rosarito has said that they will not issue fines until April of this year.

It is possible for you to not even notice the change if your favorite store decided to switch to paper or biodegradable plastic bags (which are almost indistinguishable from normal plastic bags). This will still be legal and an option for businesses if they want to keep offering customers this benefit.

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 Articles, Baja Norte, Ensenada, Rosarito, San Felipe, Tecate, Tijuana

Welcome To the Northern Free Zone

One of the campaigns promises that gained more supporters around here for our new president, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (or AMLO for short), was the proposal of a new “Free Zone” along the northern border that would reduce taxes, increase the minimum wage 100% and lower fuel prices to try and match those in the USA.

Since the first day of the year, this promise has become a reality, and you are now living in the new free zone for the northern border.

So, what does this mean for you? As a consumer, this means that you will now be paying 8% IVA on most products and services instead of the 16% you usually pay. For those of you unfamiliar with IVA, that’s the Mexican equivalent to the VAT in the US. Note that I said most; I will explain that later.

If you have a business, you will also have another benefit: Instead of paying the usual 30% on the ISR (income tax), you will now be able to receive credit for 10% of that. This means that you will only be paying 20% now.

Regarding gas prices, we have already seen some gas stations lowering their prices, since they have a special benefit in that they won’t be charging any VAT on gasoline and diesel; this reduced gas prices to exactly 16%. This reduction doesn’t actually match it to prices in the US, but it definitely closes the gap a little bit more.

Minimum wage was doubled to $176.72 pesos per day (about $9 USD); the older wage at $4.50 was a joke, and almost nobody was working for that.

Since the newly created Free Zone is defined by a decree and not a law, businesses must register for it and they will have to meet certain requirements; therefore, don’t shout bloody murder if you see 16% IVA in your ticket, since there is a possibility that some businesses don’t meet the requirements or just haven’t applied yet.

In order to be able to obtain the benefits businesses need to prove that at least 90% of their total sales are from the border region. They will also be asked to prove that they have a valid address in the region for at least 18 months. These two requirements are key in discouraging mainland businesses from establishing an address in the border just to obtain said benefits.

Businesses that are already established have until January 30th to file their application, and newly established businesses will have 30 days after registering their businesses with the SAT (which is the Mexican IRS).

The free zone objective is to increase competitiveness with the US, avoid migration and make it more attractive as an investment option.

If you were here back before 2014 you might remember that we already had lower taxes here in the border, but that benefit was removed by president Peña Nieto. At that time VAT in the area was 11%. This means that taxes now will be even lower than at that time.

Several analysts say that Northern Baja will benifit the most  from this new decree, as the biggest percentage of the population in the state lives near the border, and because all its municipalities are considered part of it.

For now, the decree will be valid only for 2019 and 2020. Surely, results will be analyzed after these two years and a decision will be made on whether to extend it or not.

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 Breaking News, Ensenada, Rosarito, San Felipe, Tecate, Tijuana

Watch out for those Santa Ana winds

Health authorities from Baja are recommending staying at home when Santa Ana winds are active. Problems in the respiratory tract, eyes and skin have been reported during the winds, and thus they are recommending staying home with doors and windows closed.

Dr. David Perez, chief of medical services, stated that these winds affect the health because they carry a lot of dirt with them because of the severe dryness. He also recommended to stay away from street food during this condition, as it can get easily contaminated by pathogens in the wind and can induce gastric diseases.

Perez emphasized the importance of drinking enough water and making sure house pets have enough clean water, which should be changed more often to avoid having them drink contaminated liquids.

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 Articles, Baja Norte, Ensenada, Real Estate, Rosarito, San Felipe, Tecate, Tijuana

Mexican Land Trusts, Big IRS implications

I was intrigued by a recent presentation by a Mexican bank on the subject of Fideicomisos (land trusts). By way of a quick primer, ownership of real property in the “restricted zone” (100 km from borders, 50 km from shore) by a foreigner must be done through a Fideicomiso.

As it turns out, Mexican banks have a monopoly on this Fideicomiso business. The bank’s role is to hold the title to property on your behalf. One can direct the disposition of the property; sell, give away, or otherwise encumber the property. ‘Fidos’ are good estate planning vehicles from the Mexican perspective. At death, the property is transferred via the trust, perhaps a more efficient mechanism than Mexican probate.

Some banks appear to be pulling out of the “fido” market. When I asked why, I was told there is increased emphasis on anti-money laundering compliance by bank regulators, which to me means there may be a new spotlight on this market segment.

One of the reasons I attended was to see how much awareness there was on the part of bank officials on the federal income tax aspects of Fidos.  None. Zilge-ola. That means you, the person who may need to enter into a fido to own property, must pay special attention, because the bank won’t tell you.

Here’s the rub. What may work from a Mexican perspective may be sheer disaster from a U.S. tax perspective. Properly structured fidos (meaning they meet IRS requirements) are deemed to be “disregarded entities,” and the IRS will not bother you. When they are not, they become IRS ‘radioactive’. They become reportable foreign trusts. Every time there is an IRS reportable ‘anything’ you have better had done it right from the beginning.

“Good” fidos have only one property in them.  At the presentation it seemed like it was common to add more than one property per fido. Again, ok from the Mexican point of view, but runs afoul of IRS ‘safe harbors’. In fact, bank officials later confirmed they gladly would add properties to an existing fideicomiso, for a fee.

Another trait of “good” fidos:  They do nothing but hold title to property. Be wary of the bank doing other things for the property; managing it, paying taxes or other things. The IRS does not like that.

Food for thought:  New owner, new trust, or just substitute the name? Does one inherit the federal tax troubles of the last fido owner?

Orlando Gotay is a California licensed tax attorney (with a Master of Laws in Taxation) admitted to practice before the IRS, the U.S. Tax Court and other taxing agencies.  His love of things Mexican has led him to devote part of his practice to federal and state tax matters of U.S. expats in Mexico.  He can be reached at tax@orlandogotay.com or Facebook: GotayTaxLawyer.  This is just a most general outline. It is informational only and not meant as legal advice.

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