Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, Sept. 20, 2026 — Puerto Vallarta’s active payroll fell by 110 workers in early September, reducing personnel payments by about 1.8 million pesos from the preceding pay period.
The city reported the figures in an official statement released Sept. 18. The administration said most departures involved administrative and support positions.
City Hall said it sought to preserve employees who provide direct public services. Those include cleaning crews and workers assigned to routine needs in Puerto Vallarta’s colonias.
Service impact centers on administrative posts
For residents, the administration’s stated safeguard is that direct-service staffing remains protected. The city said its priority was to “maintain and strengthen municipal operations.”
The government said it hired more than 100 operational workers during 2026. It linked those additions to sanitation and daily neighborhood services.
The latest reduction focused instead on administrative and support jobs, according to the municipal statement and reporting based on the payroll announcement.
However, separate reporting on the first round of cuts said the city had not yet reduced its city managers, advisers or assistants assigned to Mayor Luis Munguía.
Those positions were among the jobs discussed when council members ordered a broader payroll review.
Reduction tracks the council’s savings target
Puerto Vallarta’s council approved the payroll review under Agreement 0631/2026. The measure directs officials to keep personnel spending within the amount authorized under Chapter 1000 of the municipal budget.
The council vote was unanimous, according to coverage of the decision.
Munguía said the first round could affect about 200 employees. That estimate included assistants assigned to council members.
The proposal would limit each council member to one assistant and one auxiliary employee. The same restriction would apply to the mayor’s office, according to the report.
Munguía projected annual savings of 43 million pesos from the broader restructuring.
The latest payroll reduction nearly matches that target when extended across a full year. A decrease of 1.8 million pesos in each of the city’s 24 pay periods would equal 43.2 million pesos.
That PVDN calculation does not establish the city’s final annual savings. Payroll amounts can change as employees leave, new workers are hired, or separation payments are processed.
The 110-worker decline represents 55% of the roughly 200 positions Munguía initially identified for the first round.
Payroll consumes 45% of the city budget
In reviewing Puerto Vallarta’s official 2026 expenditure document, I found that the city authorized 1.407 billion pesos for personnel services.
That represents about 45.4% of the municipality’s total 3.102 billion-peso spending plan.
The mayor’s 43 million-peso savings target equals slightly more than 3% of the annual personnel budget.
The payroll review comes as the municipality prepares its next budget cycle. PVDN reported earlier this month that the council dropped proposed property tax and municipal fee increases for 2027.
Turnover exceeds the net payroll reduction
The city said 394 workers had left the municipal government earlier in 2026. Another 121 personnel movements during the second half of August brought the reported total to 515 departures.
Those departures do not represent the net reduction in municipal staffing because City Hall also hired operational workers during the year.
The 110-worker figure is the change in active payroll between two consecutive pay periods. It provides a narrower measure of the government’s current workforce and personnel costs.
The Administrative and Human Resources Office said it would continue reviewing the payroll and issue updates under the council agreement. Municipal payroll and financial records are published through the city’s transparency office, located at Avenida Mezquital 604 in Colonia Portales.
