Maldonado: the councilwoman who owes $835,631 voted to forgive her own surcharges

Erratum. On the plaque we published, the name was misspelled due to an editing error. It is not "Silvia Centena" but Silvana Sentena, as it appears in the digest and in the verbatim records of the Departmental Board of Maldonado. We also corrected the amount: the plaque rounded it to "about $800,000" and the exact figure is $835,631 as of September 30, 2026. With the error corrected, the story remains the same.

The councilor and the account

Sentena is a titular councilor of the National Party for the Maldonado Movement / Union and Change. The account statement C.M. 126844 from the Intendancy, cut off as of September 30, shows an uninterrupted debt of $835,631 from 2001 to 2026.

The tax itself is the least of it. The Urban Property Contribution capital is $88,267, just 10.6% of the total. The late fees ($579,630) and fines ($40,990) add up to about $620,620, which is 74% of the debt. Three out of every four pesos are penalties for non-payment.

She is not the owner

Now the central point: Silvana Sentena is not the owner of the land. According to the property survey, she has no title over the lot. The El Tesoro property is not hers, and the family occupies it de facto.

According to that same survey, the occupation began between 2017 and 2020. During that period, a house was built without a construction permit from the IDM and without a declaration of improvements to the Cadastre. Therefore, for the Intendancy, the lot remains an empty plot: since 2016, the account has charged $48,010 for the Vacant Land Tax. Since they occupied the lot, not a single year has been paid.

In plain terms: a house built on someone else's land, which does not appear in any registry and which pays nothing.

There are questions that the councilor should answer publicly:

• Who are the registered titleholders of the lot?

• Do they know there is a house on their land? Has anyone notified them?

• With what right did the family enter the property and build a house?

• Does she intend to initiate a prescription action to claim ownership of the property?

For some, auction. For others, "N/A"

The judicial follow-up box of the account statement says "N/A". In a quarter of a century, the account has never been elevated to Legal Affairs: there is no lien, no execution, no auction.

The average neighbor does not have the same experience. The Intendancy executes and auctions lots with debts averaging $300,000, less than half of this amount. The law is equal on paper; the collection is not.

The vote and the shortcut to ownership

On September 15, 2026, the Board unanimously approved, with 30 votes, Decree 4125/2026 (file 664/2026). Mayor Miguel Abella promulgated it on September 22 by Resolution 09087/2026. The decree:

• re-calculates the urban and suburban contribution without fines or surcharges, with the capital adjusted for CPI;

• for lots with an annual tax of up to $25,000, it does not count debts overdue for more than five years as of January 1, 2026;

• for higher assessments, it provides plans of up to 12 installments through a special commission;

• is valid until March 31, 2027.

In an account where 74% consists of surcharges and fines, the decree is not a relief: it is the disappearance of almost all the liability.

And here the circle closes. According to Article 2, those who can prove they are possessors, even if they are not owners, can also benefit. The receipts that come from this regularization are precisely the document presented in a prescription action, the legal path for an occupant to claim ownership of someone else's property. Whoever occupies land that is not theirs today can emerge from this decree with the debt wiped out and the papers to claim ownership.

Sentena voted in favor. She had previously supported the five-year budget 2026-2030 (Decree 4114/2025), which increased assessments and created the General Environmental Tax, the same one that now appears in her own statement. More taxes for everyone and forgiveness for those who do not pay.

The official bulletin

The councilor's spouse is the singer-songwriter and entertainer Betto Betto. In the last year, he appears time and again in the schedule of events organized or funded by the Intendancy and the municipalities:

• the Municipal Cultural Cycle of Punta del Este (October 2025);

• the San Fernando Week (January 2026);

• the La Pasiva–Castillo Pittamiglio circuit (February);

• the closing of "¡Piriápolis de Fiesta!" (April);

• the May 1st Festival in Piriápolis;

• the shows at the Gaucho Town Theme Park (May);

• "Everyone to Maldonado Nuevo" (July);

• the 5th National Sausage Festival in Pan de Azúcar (September).

It is unnecessary to assume any illegality to see the problem. When the State decides with other people's money who gets on stage, those close to power always find a place in the lineup.

The problem is the system

This case does not only speak of one councilor. It speaks of a system that raises taxes on those who comply, collects harshly from those without connections, and forgives en masse those who have accumulated debt. That same system can end up giving the papers of someone else's land to someone who occupied it without paying. And with what it collects, it pays fees.

They lose twice. The taxpayer who pays on time loses, as they finance the amnesty and the official bulletin. And the legitimate owner of the property loses, as they may see how the State facilitates another's path to take what is theirs.

The solution is not another amnesty. It is to charge less, charge everyone equally, truly defend private property, and remove the State from the business of entertainment.