Investigation · Departmental spending
Montevideo in the red: what the city government bought while its deficit multiplied eightfold
In 2024 the Intendencia de Montevideo posted its biggest deficit in a decade — USD 82.6 million, eight times the year before. Meanwhile it kept paying for advertising, shows, catering and merchandising. Here is the discretionary spend, contract by contract.
The context
A deficit that multiplied eightfold
The 2024 accounts left the Intendencia de Montevideo with a deficit of $3,640 million pesos (USD 82.6 million per El Observador; USD 90.4 million per Ámbito), eight times that of 2023 and the largest in a decade. The accumulated deficit is around USD 497 million.
The city blames falling central-government transfers and the end of a local levy. Under Mario Bergara (2025) it announced a ~70% cut, to about USD 18 million, while seeking new loans. This investigation asks the other side: with that red ink on the table, what discretionary spending carried on?
The discretionary part
Advertising, shows, catering, furniture
These are the lines a body in deficit tends to cut first. They are not illegal or necessarily unjustified — some is the city’s cultural mandate — but they are elastic: they can be postponed. This is what the city spent on each (priced purchases, 2012–2025).
Discretionary spend by category
The discretionary part
Consultancy is the biggest line (about $343 million), but it is kept out of this count: most of it is operational (SAP/GRP systems, landfill, georeferencing), not superfluous. We’d rather not inflate the figure.
The evidence
Fifteen contracts, one by one
The largest discretionary contracts of the period, verified in the data and linked to their record on the site. Advertising concentrates in a handful of suppliers; the merchandising (t-shirts, hats) continued even in 2023 and 2024, deep in the red.
| Date | Item | Supplier | Supplier / category | Amount | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20 set. 2018 | Asesoramiento publicitario | SIETEVEINTE S.R.L. | Advertising & communications | $ 13,8 M | View contract → |
| 07 mar. 2023 | Asesoramiento publicitario | SIETEVEINTE S.R.L. | Advertising & communications | $ 9 M | View contract → |
| 03 abr. 2020 | Asesoramiento publicitario | SIETEVEINTE S.R.L. | Advertising & communications | $ 7,8 M | View contract → |
| 24 set. 2020 | Asesoramiento publicitario | SIETEVEINTE S.R.L. | Advertising & communications | $ 7,4 M | View contract → |
| 20 dic. 2019 | Asesoramiento publicitario | SIETEVEINTE S.R.L. | Advertising & communications | $ 7,4 M | View contract → |
| 25 jun. 2019 | Asesoramiento publicitario | SIETEVEINTE S.R.L. | Advertising & communications | $ 6,9 M | View contract → |
| 18 nov. 2024 | Remeras de algodón (naranja) | LANCER S A | Apparel & merchandising | $ 5,8 M | View contract → |
| 14 jun. 2016 | Publicidad radial | MONTE CARLO S A | Advertising & communications | $ 4,2 M | View contract → |
| 27 jul. 2016 | Publicidad televisiva | SAETA (Emisoras de Televisión y Anexos) | Advertising & communications | $ 3,8 M | View contract → |
| 13 dic. 2023 | Remeras de algodón (naranja) | LANCER S A | Apparel & merchandising | $ 3,8 M | View contract → |
| 08 may. 2019 | Venta de entradas para espectáculos | Asociación Rural del Uruguay | Events & shows | $ 3,2 M | View contract → |
| 13 set. 2019 | Carpa para espectáculos | CANCLINI VILAR FEDERICO | Events & shows | $ 3,2 M | View contract → |
| 07 mar. 2019 | Campaña publicitaria | AMEN S.A. | Advertising & communications | $ 2,7 M | View contract → |
| 06 mar. 2020 | Venta de entradas para espectáculos | Asociación Rural del Uruguay | Events & shows | $ 2,7 M | View contract → |
| 16 dic. 2022 | Vallado para el desfile de Carnaval 2023 | PALLADIUM S A | Events & shows | $ 2,6 M | View contract → |
Keep exploring
All of the city government’s contracts
This report is a snapshot of the discretionary part. To see the rest — public works, fuel, waste collection, health — open the agency detail or the explorer.
The cases that made the news
What had already surfaced in the press
Four expenses that reached public debate. They come from the cited press, not the procurement data; we add them as context.
Payment to singer Lali Espósito for the free festival «Acá estamos» on the waterfront. The opposition called it «bread and circuses».
Annual cost of the municipal channel TV Ciudad, questioned for its low ratings while funds were demanded for streets and sanitation.
16 refuse trucks left unused for months over union safety objections. «They bought the trucks badly,» the opposition said.
The Departmental Board created three political appointments without «the required majorities», as the Court of Auditors noted.
These four figures come from the press, not from a file: they do not appear as a single identifiable contract in the open procurement data. (The city did buy refuse-compactor trucks, but in 2016 — not the 2024 purchase referenced.) We keep them as context, each linked to its article.
How it was done
Method and limits
Purchases come from the site’s data (Compras Estatales, buyer 98-1). One corrupt 2019 record (a quantity error reporting ~$182 billion) is excluded, and we lead with the median and capped totals. Every ledger contract was verified in the data and links to its file.
«Superfluous» is a judgement, not a fact. We flag as discretionary what a body in deficit can postpone — advertising, shows, catering, merchandising — and leave out operational consultancy. The reader opens each file and judges.
Sources
Verified sources
- El Observador — Déficit 2024 de la IM (USD 82,6 M; acumulado USD 497,4 M)
- Ámbito — El déficit de la IM se disparó a USD 90,4 M (2024)
- Montevideo Portal — Déficit de USD 18 M en 2025 (-70%)
- Búsqueda — La IM planteó dificultades financieras al futuro gobierno
- Compras Estatales — cada contrato del ledger enlaza a su ficha oficial
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About this data
This is data journalism over open data, not an audit. Purchase amounts are what the State publishes; the deficit and media cases are what the cited press reported.
Flagging spending as «discretionary» or «superfluous» is an editorial reading in the context of the deficit, not an accusation of wrongdoing. Every contract links to its official source so anyone can check.