How Much Does Tulum’s City Government Actually Owe?

Tulum municipal finances closed 2025 with 464.3 million pesos in recorded liabilities, according to published reviews of the city's statements, while suppliers say some invoices have sat unpaid for up to eight months.

The figure, reported as 464,285,972 pesos, covers every obligation on the municipal books, from bills owed to vendors to the 50 million pesos the city borrowed from Banorte in December. The same reviews put total liabilities at 293,947,866 pesos a year earlier, an increase of about 170.3 million pesos, or roughly 58 percent.

The timing gives the numbers weight. Mayor Diego Castañón Trejo's administration faces its year-end payroll obligations in less than two months, the Banorte loan is scheduled to be repaid during 2026, and the businesses that sell materials and services to the city are the ones reporting the delays.

The city entered 2026 owing suppliers and contractors 213 million pesos

The largest identifiable block of Tulum's debt is held by private companies. According to figures drawn from the municipal statement of financial position, the city began 2026 with 292,960,544 pesos in short-term liabilities.

Of that amount, 142,709,168 pesos were payable to suppliers and 70,505,080 pesos to public works contractors. Together, they total 213.2 million pesos.

The remaining liabilities, roughly 171.3 million pesos, fall outside the short-term category. The published reviews do not itemize them.

These are year-end numbers. They show what was pending on Dec. 31, 2025, and they cannot show how much the treasury has paid since or how many new bills have accumulated in 2026.

Suppliers describe the more recent situation in their own terms. Some say they have waited six to eight months for the municipal treasury to settle their invoices. The Tulum Times has not independently confirmed those accounts or the amounts involved. If accurate, delays of that length would strain the cash flow of the local firms that supply city offices and public works.

A Banorte loan balance that raises a timing question

The city council had authorized borrowing of up to 76 million pesos. When the credit line was approved, Castañón described it as a preventive measure to ensure municipal operations and said it did not mean the city would borrow immediately.

The administration contracted 50 million pesos with Banorte in December 2025. In January 2026, then-treasurer Vicente Francisco Aldape Moncada said most of the money had gone to aguinaldos, the year-end bonuses required under Mexican labor law, and to other labor obligations. He also said employee complaints over bonus payments had been resolved.

A later review of the 2025 public accounts complicates that explanation. It found 49,837,277.41 pesos still in the bank account identified with the loan as of Dec. 31, 2025, or 99.7 percent of the amount borrowed.

A year-end balance does not by itself prove an irregularity. Money moves between municipal accounts, and payments are sometimes recorded on dates other than when they are made. It does leave a question the treasury can settle only with documents: when the loan funds were spent, and which obligations they paid.

Cash on hand before the loan was signed

A second question concerns need. HR Ratings, which assigned Tulum an HR A+ rating with a stable outlook in December 2025, reviewed the municipality's financial information as part of that process.

Drawing on that information, a report published in February 2026 said the city held about 317.9 million pesos in cash and bank accounts as of Sept. 30, 2025, against 211.3 million pesos in short-term obligations.

That looked like a comfortable cushion. Part of any municipality's cash, however, is usually earmarked for specific purposes, such as federal transfers tied to infrastructure, and cannot be spent on payroll. Whether the loan was necessary depends on how much of the money was freely available, which bills were about to come due, and what terms Banorte offered. The published reviews do not break down those details.

Public works funding cut to repay Banorte this year

The repayment already carries a visible cost. The first amendment to Tulum's 2026 expenditure budget, published in the state official gazette on March 31, set aside 53.4 million pesos for debt service this year, 50 million in principal and 3.35 million in interest, according to Riviera Maya News.

The same amendment reduced public investment by 106.3 million pesos from an originally approved 229.7 million, a cut of about 46 percent, the outlet reported.

Municipal workers raise complaints of their own

In December 2025, municipal employees protested over aguinaldos and other benefits, and unionized workers marched over what they described as year-end debts owed to them by the city government. More recently, unionized staff have reported pay deductions they consider improper and have asked the mayor to intervene.

The labor disputes are separate from the supplier complaints, yet both test the same capacity: whether the treasury can meet its obligations on time. With two months left in 2026, workers are again asking about aguinaldos, savings fund payments, and other year-end benefits. So far, no public evidence shows those payments are at risk.

Treasurer Raziel Ek Cruz says Tulum municipal finances are stable

Rubén Raziel Ek Cruz, a former director of the municipal cadastre, took over the treasury in July after Aldape resigned. In August, according to local press reports, he said the city's finances remained stable, that payments on the Banorte loan were current, and that the administration would not take on a new loan in 2026.

Staying current with a bank says little about what the city owes vendors and contractors. At the close of 2025, those bills were more than four times the loan amount.

Why 464.3 million pesos is not today's debt

The 464.3 million-peso figure is a snapshot as of Dec. 31, 2025. It is neither the city's bank debt, which stood at 50 million pesos, nor the balance as of October 2026. Total liabilities combine accounting obligations of different kinds and maturities, and only a fraction of them are loans.

A current picture will come from documents the municipality must produce: the 2026 third-quarter financial statements, the analytical report on public debt, and the detail of accounts payable to suppliers and contractors. Those records should also show how much of the Banorte principal has been repaid and what the loan has cost in interest and fees.

Until those figures are public, the suppliers holding unpaid invoices have only the treasury's word that the money is there.

Should Tulum's city government publish a regular list of what it owes suppliers and contractors? Join the conversation and share your perspective with us on Instagram and Facebook at @thetulumtimes.