Enjoy a razzle-dazzle welcome to 2018 compliments of the local government at the Festival de Luces events set for Sunday, December 31 at the Chapala and Ajijic waterfront promenades.

Officials from Chapala’s Land Registry department (Catastro) will go on the road next week to take annual impuesto predial (property tax) payment services to the doorstep of property owners in several prime housing developments.

The names of potential candidates for the Chapala mayor’s seat are starting to surface.  Juan Diego Castro Morales stands out as the first man in local history positioned to contend as an independent candidate.  The Jalisco Electoral Institute (IEPC) approved his preliminary registration in late November. The next step to get his name on the ballot involves collecting 361 signatures – equivalent to one percent of the municipality’s roster of registered voters.

Still undecided on how to ring in the New Year? If dancing under the stars and watching glitzy fireworks explode over Lake Chapala sounds appealing, get in on the December 31 celebrations the Chapala government is hosting in Chapala and Ajijic.

Scenes of the Lake Chapala area will be featured in a Coca Cola commercial that is scheduled for release next April in the United States and subsequent airings throughout Latin America.

While the Chapala municipal government will maintain 2017 rates for next year’s property taxes (predial), business licenses and other municipal fees, the autonomous water utility, Sistema Municipal de Agua Potable y Alcantarillado (SIMAPA), will increase their annual charges for water and sewage services by a hefty 7.38 percent.