A. MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS Determination of income: 1.-For the purposes of article 51 of the Financial Administration Law of the Republic, No. 1279 of May 2, 1951, all income proceeds with a specific purpose are transformed into subsidies, according to the special detail in the National Budget Law.
Budget appropriations for fixed expenses: 2.-For the purposes of this law, budget appropriations for fixed expenses shall be considered committed for the sole reason that the events generating the obligation provided for therein occur. Consequently, in the case of salaries, the very fact of legally earning them constitutes the commitment.
Authorization to recode: 3.-The Executive Branch is authorized, by means of a decree, with the prior approval of the Contraloría General de la República, to recode the ordinary and extraordinary budgets incorporated into the National Budget in accordance with the general coding in force.
Authorization to issue payments as fixed expenses: 4.-All sums approved for representation expenses of the officials of the Presidential House and of the Supreme Branches shall be issued as fixed expenses, and the presentation of receipts shall not be required for their payment. The same procedure shall be followed for processing the representation expenses of the Foreign Service.
Regarding meal expenses and those of the "Protocolo de la Casa Presidencial" (Protocol of the Presidential House) sub-line item, the presentation of receipts shall be required for their payment.
Line items for tickets: 5.-The line items for travel expenses and tickets abroad shall only cover expenses incurred by public servants, except in the cases of technical advisors from international organizations and delegations of the Presidency of the Republic.
Sub-line item for travel expenses: Foreign Service. 6.-For the transfer of concurrent ambassadors who, in the exercise of their duties, must present letters of credence at venues other than their permanent one, the "Transporte de o para el exterior" (Transportation from or to abroad) sub-line item shall be used.
From the same source indicated in the preceding paragraph, resources shall be taken for the transfer of representatives or delegates designated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to attend congresses, conferences, or meetings, at locations other than the permanent venue where said servants exercise their functions.
The "Gastos de viaje en el exterior" (Travel expenses abroad) and "Transporte de o para el exterior" (Transportation from or to abroad) sub-line items shall be used as indicated, exclusively for the transfer of officials of program 081-Servicio Exterior (Foreign Service).
B. PROCEDURES FOR EXECUTION AND CONTROL Processing of special appropriation and merchandise requests: 7.-No commitment shall be incurred against a line item for "variable expenses" unless the Budget Control Office of the Ministry of Finance has previously reserved a sufficient sum to meet that payment in the appropriation account of the respective budget.
The requests for special appropriations and the requests for merchandise or services shall be signed by the respective hierarchical superior of the corresponding institution, or by their delegate, at the time of their issuance.
The hierarchical superior may only delegate their authorization to the officials directly responsible for the administrative unit to which resources are assigned in the budget programs of the National Budget Law. No request for a special appropriation reserve, or request for merchandise or services, shall be processed if these requirements are not met. For the validity of the commitments, the prior approval of the Contraloría General de la República shall be required.
Payment orders of constitutional organs: 8.-The payment agreements to issue payments from line items for variable expenses of the budgets of the Legislative and Judicial Branches, the Tribunal Supremo de Elecciones, and the Contraloría General de la República, shall be issued or authorized by these bodies, following approval by the competent offices of the corresponding request for merchandise or services, or the request for a special appropriation reserve.
Modification of Contracts: 9.-The orders for modification of construction, consulting, and rental contracts must be previously approved by the Budget Control Office of the Ministry of Finance. This office shall certify that the financial disbursements that the order may cause have economic content during the fiscal year in execution. For this purpose, the ministries must submit to the aforementioned office a schedule of disbursements for the line items affecting said contracts, based on the works to be carried out during the year, which separately shows the disbursements generated under the original contract and those derived from each modification order requested.
Reports from agencies: 10.-The agencies of the central Government must submit to the National Budget Office, within the fifteen working days following the end of each quarter of the fiscal year, a detailed report on the physical progress, achievements, or goals reached in the execution of each program and project. The ministries, in collaboration with the National Budget Office and in accordance with the resources assigned for each year, shall define and quantify the objectives and goals of the budget programs.
Control of resource use: 11.-The Contraloría General de la República must exercise strict control over the use of the funds authorized in the budget through subsidies, transfers, or line items, issued to different state and private entities and organizations, over those entities of any nature that, temporarily or permanently, receive or administer public funds and assets, or that are benefited with exemptions.
The Contraloría General de la República, once it determines which entities must submit a budget to it in order to have access to the sums referred to in this rule, shall communicate this information to the National Treasury, so that subsidies are not delivered to those that have not complied with this requirement or with providing any information regarding the application of public funds.
No later than January 31 of each year, every entity—state or private—favored with subsidies must submit to the Contraloría, with a copy to the National Budget Office, the liquidation of the budgets corresponding to the previous year.
Deadline for rendering opinions: 12.-In those cases where the Contraloría General de la República must issue a prior opinion for compliance with this body of budget rules, it must render it within a period not exceeding fifteen working days, counted from receipt of the draft decree, by means of a resolution it shall send to the Ministry of Finance.
Liquidation of extraordinary budgets: 13.-In the liquidation of extraordinary budgets, as of December 31 of each year, whose income originates from lines of credit with foreign organizations, the effective expenses that have not been reimbursed by those organizations before that date shall be considered as resources.
Reimbursements to be received shall include expenses recognized for works that the Ministry of Public Works and Transportation carries out under its own administration. Reimbursement may only be requested from foreign organizations once the works have been completed.
A. AUTHORIZATIONS TO THE EXECUTIVE BRANCH Transfers and modifications: 14.-The Ministry of Finance, by means of a decree of the Executive Branch, may: a) Carry out transfers between line items for the public debt service and create the programs and sub-line items necessary for those purposes. b) Transfer surpluses, both from personal services of all budget programs and from all pension regimes charged to the National Budget, to the public debt service, to the line items for the payment of pensions and legal benefits charged to the central Government, with the purpose of covering shortfalls and pending commitments from previous years, produced in the aforementioned pension regimes, and to the line items for personal services and transfers, to meet both salary resolutions issued by the Dirección General de Servicio Civil and pending commitments from previous fiscal years generated by their application.
Transfers for the second half of the year: 15.-In the second half of the year, with prior approval from the Contraloría General de la República and by means of an executive decree, transfers may be ordered between the expenses authorized in the National Budget Law, within the same program, except in relation to personal services and to line items for transfers and for constructions, additions, and improvements.
Transfers may be rearranged through the creation of a new type of expense, provided the amount of resources assigned to the program is not modified, when this is indispensable for its better execution.
The sums that the National Budget Law authorizes for confidential expenses, representation expenses, amortization of accounts pending from previous fiscal years, consulting services, transportation equipment, articles and expenses for receptions, and expenses abroad, may not be increased by means of an executive decree.
In budgets financed with resources from external credit, transfers from personal services to variable expenses, or vice versa, shall be permitted by executive decree, with prior authorization from the Contraloría General de la República.
Requests for transfers between line items of the same program must be submitted in writing, duly justified by the heads of the budget programs and authorized by the respective hierarchical superior. In addition, the corresponding budget officer shall certify the available balance of the sub-line items being reduced.
The aforementioned transfers or transfers of funds may be made at any time to address emergency situations or public calamities, previously declared by agreement of the Executive Branch.
The following sub-line items of the ministries may not be reduced: rentals, telecommunications, electric energy, gasoline, diesel, and medicines. Neither may those intended for the payment of accounts pending from previous fiscal years, in programs of direct expenses of the ministries, nor those for food products of the ministries of Public Security, Government and Police, and Justice and Grace, be reduced.
Donations from international organizations: 16.-The Executive Branch is authorized to, by means of a decree, incorporate into the National Budget the donations it receives from international organizations or foreign state entities.
Modification of the Judicial Branch budget: 17.-The Executive Branch, at the request of the Supreme Court of Justice, by means of executive decrees of the Ministry of Finance, shall make the necessary modifications to the Judicial Branch budget, in everything related to changes of positions, new positions, and the creation or reorganization of offices that are indispensable for the application of the various Procedural Codes and the Regulatory Law of the Contentious-Administrative Jurisdiction, as well as for the application of Law No. 6332 of June 8, 1979 and Law No. 7046 of October 6, 1986. The budget resources shall be taken from the sub-line item "Sueldos para cargos fijos" (Salaries for fixed positions), final part, reserved for this purpose, and from the sub-line items modified by the decrees that are ultimately issued.
Authorization for the payment of salary revaluations: 18.-The Executive Branch is authorized to begin the payment of salary revaluations agreed upon due to the increase in the cost of living for the first and second halves of 1989, charged to the salary line items authorized in this Budget Law.
Authorization for the payment of the year-end bonus with 1990 line items: 19.-The Executive Branch is authorized to pay the year-end bonus (decimotercer mes, thirteenth month) for the year 1989 charged to the corresponding expense line items of the 1990 National Budget.
B. REVOLVING FUNDS Fund for Social Adaptation: 20.-For the operation of the Dirección General de Adaptación Social (General Directorate of Social Adaptation), the Executive Branch is authorized to establish, through the National Treasury, a revolving fund of up to two million colones (₡ 2,000,000), to facilitate the timely handling of requirements for materials, goods, and services indispensable for the Directorate's operation.
This fund shall be managed in a special checking account in a State bank, against which checks may only be issued with the joint signatures of the Minister of Justice, or their designee, and the general accountant of that Ministry.
The Contraloría General de la República shall audit the movement of these funds periodically and at intervals not exceeding six months. Under no circumstances may this line item be used for the payment of personal services.
Fund for the National Procurement Office: 21.-The Executive Branch is authorized to establish a revolving fund of up to seventy million colones (₡ 70,000,000) in the Proveeduría Nacional (National Procurement Office). These resources shall serve to facilitate the timely handling of the Public Administration's requirements. The Proveeduría Nacional may only provide goods and services acquired with the resources of this revolving fund when merchandise requests duly approved by the offices indicated in the seventh rule are delivered to it.
This fund shall be managed in a special checking account in a State bank, against which checks may only be issued with the signatures of the Minister of Finance, or a representative designated by the latter, and the National Procurement Officer. The Contraloría General de la República shall audit the movement of this fund periodically and at intervals not exceeding six months.
Under no circumstances may this line item be used for the payment of personal services.
Fund for the Judicial Branch: 22.-The Executive Branch is authorized to establish, through the National Treasury, a revolving fund for the operation of the Judicial Branch, solely for the purpose of facilitating the acquisition of materials, goods, and services, for the amount established in the Regulation on Administrative Contracting, for direct purchases that are indispensable and urgent in nature, and for meeting the payment of substitute personnel during the vacation and leave period of judicial servants.
The amount authorized for the acquisition of the aforementioned goods and services shall be five million colones (₡ 5,000,000), a sum that may be increased to up to eight million colones (₡ 8,000,000), during the months of January, February, and March, inclusive, for the payment of substitutes. This fund shall be managed in a checking account in a State bank, against which checks may only be issued with the joint signatures of the administrative director and the judicial accountant.
The Judicial Auditing Office is responsible for keeping control of the fund. The Contraloría General de la República shall audit the movement of these funds periodically and at intervals not exceeding six months.
The Full Court shall issue a regulation for the operation of that fund, which must be approved by the Contraloría General de la República.
The Executive Branch, at the request of the Court and by means of executive decrees prepared by the National Budget Office, shall make the necessary modifications to the Judicial Branch budget, in everything related to the changes that are indispensable for the better operation of the fund.
Fund for the National School Warehouse: 23.-The Executive Branch is authorized to establish a revolving fund of up to fifteen million colones (₡ 15,000,000), in the School Supplies Program of the Ministry of Public Education, which it shall use for the operation of the Almacén Nacional Escolar (National School Warehouse). Through this fund, payments shall be made for the purchases of materials and general services that constitute the normal purpose of its activities, and the proceeds from the sale of school supplies and materials made shall be reintegrated.
These funds shall be managed in a special checking account in a State bank, against which checks may only be issued with the joint signatures of the director of the Financial Department and the Ministry of Public Education, or their designee. The Contraloría General de la República shall audit the movement of these funds periodically and at intervals not exceeding six months.
Under no circumstances may this line item be used for the payment of personal services.
Special services: 24.-Under no circumstances may the salaries of personnel paid through the sub-line items for special services of the ministries be higher than those earned by personnel incorporated into the Régimen de Servicio Civil (Civil Service Regime), performing similar functions.
In addition, personnel paid for special services must meet the requirements demanded by this regime. Appointments must conform to what is indicated in the staffing table of each ministry. In cases where these details are not added, they must be issued by executive decree. The same procedure shall be followed for appointments made against the sub-line items for wages of the ministries.
These details of special services and wages may be modified by means of an executive decree from the Ministry of Finance. The Dirección General de Servicio Civil (General Directorate of Civil Service) shall be responsible for the classification of the positions appearing in the staffing table for special services.
Staffing table of the Ministry of Education: 25.-The Executive Branch, at the request of the Minister of Education, by decree of the Ministries of Finance and Public Education, may modify the staffing tables in programs: 505, 506, 507, and 508, for the following purposes: a) Carry out transfers or changes of positions and teaching hours between the country's educational centers, provided the needs arise from the effective enrollment of the different educational centers. b) Create educational centers it deems convenient, according to the needs of the different communities in the country, but only through the transfer of positions. c) Carry out transfers or changes of administrative personnel positions and service personnel positions between educational centers, on the understanding that the decrees derived from this rule may only create a number of positions or teaching hours equal to that which is reduced, and that the transfer or change of positions shall be carried out without prejudice to the acquired rights of the appointed servants.
For the correct application of this rule, starting from the month of March, the Ministry of Public Education, without prejudice to the acquired rights of the servants, must carry out the personnel adjustments caused by the decrease in enrollment in the various cycles, for which it shall implement, in the country's educational institutions, a permanent budget control over the staffing table included in this law.
26.-The Executive Branch is authorized to, from the salary line item for fixed positions of the Ministry of Public Education, budget programs: 505 Pre-school Education, First and Second Cycle, 506 Diversified Technical Education, and 508 Special Education, use the amounts corresponding to the vacant positions of the months of January and February, to create up to two hundred fifty teaching positions, in accordance with effective enrollment, to comply with Article 78 of the Political Constitution. The corresponding budget modifications shall be made by means of an executive decree from the Ministries of Finance and Public Education.
27.-The Executive Branch may not increase, by decree, the number of positions contemplated in the staffing tables for fixed positions and wages, except for the reason established in subsection 26 of this article.
28.-Foreign exchange funds from loans granted by international organizations to the central Government or to decentralized institutions, which must be converted to national currency, shall be converted to this currency at the exchange rate for the purchase of foreign currency (exchange rate) currently in effect, or at the rate by which it is replaced in the future.
29.-The State, its institutions, and the other entities of the public sector are authorized to transfer positions—provided they are not teaching positions—from one program to another, within the same title or different titles, within the same category or level, in accordance with the following provisions: a) In the case of institutions governed by the Civil Service Statute, the transfer of permanently held positions shall be carried out by mutual agreement between the minister or superior authority releasing the position and the minister or superior authority receiving it, provided that no harm is caused to the official subject to the move. The transfer shall be for a term of up to two years, extendable, and the employee shall retain all their rights. At the end of the indicated term, at the worker's request and with the approval of both respective ministers or senior officials, the position may be incorporated into the new program in the respective budget code, in which case the corresponding position in the budget of the ministry of origin shall be eliminated. b) In the case of decentralized institutions and public companies, and provided this does not imply transfers to institutions belonging to the Régimen de Servicio Civil (Civil Service Regime), the Technical Secretariat of the Budget Authority, at the request of the hierarchical superiors of the interested public entities, shall analyze and decide whether to grant the respective authorization. The changes or transfers produced by the application of this article may be confirmed through their incorporation into the next budget draft presented for the knowledge of the Contraloría General de la República, unless the corresponding senior official reclaims the positions. c) Transfers of vacant positions not occupied by internal servants may be carried out in accordance with what is established in subsection a) where pertinent, including to institutions belonging to the Régimen de Servicio Civil (Civil Service Regime), in which case the consent of the senior official receiving the position shall be required. The definitive transfer may be made by incorporating the position into the corresponding budget.
30.-Overtime shall not be paid to those who hold department head positions or head positions of higher rank within the State organization, provided they render their services under the exclusive dedication or prohibition regime. Other employees and officials of the State retain the right to the respective payment.
31.-The effects of currency devaluations carried out by the Banco Central de Costa Rica must not impact the allocations, in foreign currency, that the National Budget Law provides for the servants and offices of the Foreign Service of the Republic. The Ministry of Finance, by means of an executive decree, shall use the unused monthly balances of the national budget to cover the exchange differences that arise in programs 081-Servicio Exterior (Foreign Service) and 110-Administración Central (Central Administration).
32.-When one or more payments are unduly issued in favor of the holder of a teaching, administrative-teaching, or administrative position, who had been interimly substituted by another servant, this circumstance shall not constitute an impediment to issuing the corresponding payments to the latter. The Ministry of Public Education, in coordination with the Oficina Técnica Mecanizada (Mechanized Technical Office) of the Ministry of Finance, shall take the necessary measures to achieve the reimbursement of the sums unduly paid, within a period not exceeding three months from the issuance of the payments.
33.-When two or more institutions occupy the same school building, each of them shall have the right to use, during its corresponding shift, the entirety of the physical facilities, such as workshops, libraries, laboratories, and others. When an agreement must be subscribed for the use of the facilities, its effectiveness shall be subject to sanction by the Ministry of Public Education. The director and the professors shall be responsible for the care of the facilities during the corresponding work day.
34.-The Ministry of Public Education, with the intervention of the director and the guidance departments of the schools and of other officials it deems necessary, shall carry out a socioeconomic study of the students of the educational institutions to which it provides transportation service, in order to determine the beneficiaries of the service, the cost of which shall be covered by the State.
35.-The Ministry of Public Works and Transportation is authorized to, through the Comisión Técnica de Transporte Automotor (Technical Commission for Automotive Transport), carry out the public bidding procedure for the awarding of student transportation routes or concessions, financed in the budget of the Republic in accordance with Law No. 3503 of May 10, 1965 and its reforms, with Law No. 3560 of October 27, 1965, and with Executive Decree No. 15203 MOPT of February 22, 1984. It shall be the responsibility of the Ministry of Public Education to definition of the routes and the allocation of the number of students per route, as well as the corresponding payment processing. This will be carried out by means of the special credit reservation procedure, in accordance with the procedures of the Proveeduría Nacional, with the approval of the Contraloría General de la República.
In accordance with current legislation, the Ministerio de Educación Pública shall regulate matters relating to the award, to avoid delays that cause interruption of the service.
36.- The educational centers included in the list of positions of the National Budget, referred to in Article 24 of Law No. 6975 of December 3, 1984 (amendment to the National Budget for 1984), listed in Rule No. 41 of the National Budget for 1974, shall maintain their statu quo regarding their governance and appointment of their administrative and administrative-teaching staff, including the teaching staff of Religion, Philosophy, and Ethics.
Regarding the appointment of new teaching staff, they shall be chosen by the respective directorates of those schools from a list of five names that, for each position, the Ministerio de Educación Pública shall propose to them.
The provisions of the preceding paragraph shall apply to the appointment of permanent and interim staff.
The Ministerio de Educación Pública shall request the respective rosters from the Civil Service Department, which shall assemble them through the respective public competition.
37.- The Ministerio de Hacienda may authorize the execution of up to three twelfths of the expenditures approved in the Ley de Presupuesto Nacional.
Requests for special credit reservations and requests for goods or services that imply an extension of the maximum quota of three twelfths shall require, in addition to the authorizations they normally carry, the authorization of the Minister of Hacienda and the Tesorero Nacional. Likewise, the Ministerio de Hacienda is authorized to execute, in a single instance, those budget sub-items whose annual amounts are equal to or less than one hundred thousand colones (₡100,000).
38.- The Poder Ejecutivo is authorized, by decree of the Ministerio de Hacienda, at the request of the Tribunal Supremo de Elecciones, to make transfers of items during the year 1989 among the authorized expenditures of the Tribunal Supremo de Elecciones. For these purposes, the official performing the duties of budget officer shall certify the effectively available balance of the sub-items that are reduced.
39.- During the year, by executive decree (decreto ejecutivo), the Ministerio de Hacienda may modify the roster of positions for program 081-Servicio Exterior, for the purpose of adapting it to the needs of the different political and economic situations that so demand, without exceeding the amount of the annual quota authorized for this purpose in the Ley de Presupuesto Nacional.
At the same time, it may make transfers of sub-items and modify their detail within this program.
40.- For the purpose of deconcentrating the supply function within the Poder Ejecutivo, ministries are authorized to execute the budget through their supply departments, for which they shall carry out all administrative contracting procedures authorized by the Ley de la Administración Financiera de la República and the Reglamento de la Contratación Administrativa. Henceforth, the Proveeduría Nacional shall fulfill the following functions regarding the ministerial supply departments:
- a)Supervision of technical activities.
- b)Formulation of mandatory instructions and technical standards.
- c)Resolution at the appeal stage against bidding documents and awards of tenders, when the appeal does not fall under the jurisdiction of the Contraloría General de la República.
ch) Advisory services and execution of training programs in supply functions.
- d)Oversight of compliance with the Reglamento de la Contratación Administrativa and any standard or directive issued by the Contraloría General de la República or the Proveeduría Nacional, related to this matter.
- e)Reporting of any irregularity or violation of the law, so that the pertinent investigations are carried out and, if appropriate, the corresponding responsibilities are established.
41.- The Consejo Técnico, the governing body of the Centro de Investigaciones y Perfeccionamiento para la Educación Técnica of the Ministerio de Educación Pública, in addition to the composition, functions, and powers assigned to it in executive decree (decreto ejecutivo) No. 6002-E of May 6, 1976 (reformed by number 6258-E of July 29 of the same year), shall exercise or hold the functions and powers that the Código de Educación (Title III, Articles 406 to 409) grants to the administrative boards (juntas administrativas) of secondary education institutions, exclusively regarding the governance, operation, and administration of the Centro de Investigaciones y Perfeccionamiento de la Educación Técnica (CIPET) of the Ministerio de Educación Pública.
42.- The Consejo Superior de Educación, based on the cost report prepared by the División de Planteamiento y Desarrollo Educativo of the Ministerio de Educación Pública, shall review and set the amounts to be charged for enrollment and monthly fees, at the corresponding education level, in all those private education institutions that receive contributions from the Government for the payment of teachers, through the National Budget (Presupuesto Nacional).
43.- Any construction, expansion, or improvement carried out on buildings intended for official educational centers, be they classrooms, dining halls, gymnasiums, workshops, and others, with funds from this budget or from international loans and other public funds, shall be considered property of the State and must be registered in the name of the Ministerio de Educación Pública. The same criterion shall apply to the purchase of properties (fincas) destined for education.
The Ministerio de Educación Pública shall have the authority to authorize the use of all official educational facilities, taking into consideration the general interests of education and culture, and the particular interests of the community.
44.- The statute of limitations periods established by the Código de Trabajo and the Reglamento del Estatuto de Servicio Civil shall not begin to run for employees of the Ministerio de Educación Pública, with respect to their claims or normal procedures for payment of wages, wage differences, or additional pay, but rather from the moment that the Personnel Department of the Ministerio de Educación Pública of the rejection of the procedure, or that the corresponding payment is not feasible ex officio or through the ordinary payroll process. Written proof of the above shall always be kept.
In any case, said claims must refer to the fiscal years of the years prior to the validity of the Ley de Presupuesto Nacional for each year. The personnel actions or resolutions must be duly approved, for which the Ministerio de Educación Pública is authorized under this rule.
SOCIAL INTEREST SITUATIONS