The city government of Santo Domingo, under current PLD mayor Roberto Salcedo, announced increases of 200% to a whopping 3,000% on the taxes to process documents needed for construction in Santo Domingo. Resolution 5-2004 dated 14 January considerably increases the cost of taxes to build a dwelling in the city. El Caribe newspaper reports, for instance, that an apartment of up to 150 square meters must now pay RD$9,000 for a permit to use the lot, up from a previous RD$400. The secretary general of the city government, Domingo Contreras, said that the increases bring the costs up to date and correspond to the vertical growth of the city. He said that the funds would be used to reinforce plans for the better use of public space of the city government. While he said that funds generated in the past were insignificant, he was not able to project any specific amounts for the new revenues. This decision comes at a time when new construction has come to a practical standstill as a consequence of the increase in costs given the depreciation of the peso.