(1996-07) Law Creating the Territorial Collectivities Management and Development Fund (FGDCT)
Summary — Promulgated by President René Préval and Prime Minister Rosny Smarth at the National Palace on 15 July 1996 and published in Le Moniteur (No. 52, 18 July 1996), this law creates a Fund for the Management and Development of Territorial Collectivities (FGDCT) to give departments, communes, and communal sections dedicated financial resources and administrative-management training, on the joint report of the Ministers of Economy and Finance and of the Interior.
Key Findings
- Creates the FGDCT, a dedicated fund to finance departments, communes, and communal sections.
- Establishes an 11-member governing commission with departmental, MEF, and Interior representation.
- Defines multiple revenue streams: central-government allocations, cooperation/donation funds, a special tax regime, and additional centime taxes.
- Mandates equitable distribution among territorial entities and exclusive local management of allocated funds.
- Promulgated by President René Préval and Prime Minister Rosny Smarth on 15 July 1996.
Full Description
This law, voted by the Corps Législatif on the proposal of the Executive after Council of Ministers deliberation, creates the Fonds de Gestion et de Développement des Collectivités Territoriales (FGDCT) to equip Haiti's territorial collectivities with financial instruments matching the autonomy granted by the 28 March 1996 law on the organization of the communal section territorial collectivity. The preamble notes that the 46th Legislature's new legislation obliges the government to provide territorial collectivities with adequate financial means and administrative/project-management training programs. Article 2 lists the Fund's revenue sources: central government allocations, cooperation/aid/donation and financial-agreement funds involving territorial collectivities, a special tax regime to be determined by law, and additional centime taxes or other contributions benefiting territorial collectivities. Article 3 places the Fund under an eleven-member commission including one representative from each departmental council and one representative each from the Ministries of Economy and Finance and of the Interior, assisted by a technical council. Article 4 restricts Fund revenues exclusively to financing the activities of departments, communes, and communal sections, while Article 5 requires equitable distribution among territorial entities under specific budget lines with defined use, and Article 6 gives each department, commune, and communal section exclusive management of the value allocated to it.
The law was voted at the Chamber and Senate and promulgated by President René Préval, with Prime Minister Rosny Smarth and the cabinet countersigning, at the National Palace, Port-au-Prince, 15 July 1996, Year 193 of Independence, published in Le Moniteur No. 52 of 18 July 1996.