Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, October 27, 2026 — Councilor Melissa Madero opened her second activity report Monday with questions about municipal payroll, contracts and DIF finances.
Madero identified 3,375 active personnel records against 2,707 authorized positions. She projected the annual cost of that difference at about 151.9 million pesos above the approved amount.
Her report also examines municipal contracts worth 69.9 million pesos and projects that DIF payroll could consume more than 94 million pesos of its original 120 million-peso budget.
Those figures raise a practical question for residents: Can City Hall reconcile its approved budgets with the personnel and spending records Madero examined?
The findings remain the councilor’s assessment. The published summaries do not contain enough supporting worksheets to reproduce all her calculations, and no specific municipal response to this installment was located in the public material reviewed for this article.
“These are public funds that deserve transparency, explanations and accountability,” Madero said, translated from Spanish.
The official staffing plan provides a starting point for checking her claims. Puerto Vallarta’s 2026 general payroll staffing document lists 2,707 positions and an annual salary total of approximately 758.5 million pesos.
It also lists 18 positions assigned directly to the mayor’s office, with an annual total of approximately 12.2 million pesos. Madero says the personnel records she reviewed contained 117 people assigned to that office.
The dates of those records matter. Quadratín already reported her overall figures of 3,375 personnel records and 668 additional positions. Their inclusion in this week’s report does not establish today’s headcount.
City Hall subsequently reported reductions. In a municipal statement on September 19, the administration said its first September payroll contained 110 fewer people than the preceding pay period. Payments were approximately 1.8 million pesos lower.
The city said those adjustments concentrated on administrative and support areas while seeking to preserve operational services. It also reported more than 100 additions during 2026 to strengthen services, particularly cleaning and everyday neighborhood work.
That account makes it essential to compare matching dates and personnel categories. Annual departures, new hires, and a reduction between two pay periods measure different things. Establishing the current position requires an updated payroll comparison and any council approvals that changed the original staffing plan.
DIF’s finances bring the same question closer to households seeking assistance.
Madero’s projection would place payroll at roughly four-fifths of DIF’s initial municipal allocation. Assessing that share requires a breakdown of staffing costs, the services those employees provide, and other program expenses.
DIF has already requested additional funding. As Vallarta Daily reported on October 21, DIF’s board backed a request for another 40–45 million pesos to finish the year.
Board member and Councilor Karla Rodríguez attributed the pressure to demand for assistance. In an interview, she also explained that funding received from DIF Jalisco is designated for particular programs and cannot simply cover unrelated expenses.
Her explanation addresses the request for more resources; it does not reconcile Madero’s payroll projection. For families relying on assistance, the unresolved issue is how much funding remains available for services through December.
The contract review requires a similarly specific accounting. Madero says the 69.9 million pesos she examined included more than 18.2 million pesos for events, celebrations, and related expenses. That total describes the value of contracts reviewed. Evaluating individual purchases requires their authorizations, payment records and evidence of what suppliers delivered.
Under the release schedule announced Monday, Madero’s 2025–2026 report will appear in six daily thematic installments through digital platforms and news outlets.
For the payroll questions, the decisive follow-up is a dated reconciliation showing how September’s reductions changed staffing, which positions remain authorized, and the salary bill City Hall carries into November and December.
