The Supreme Court invalidates municipal charges on antennas in Yahualica, Hidalgo

The Plenary Court of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation declared the invalidity of Article 26 of the Revenue Law for the Municipality of Yahualica, State of Hidalgo, for the 2026 Fiscal Year, in the normative portions that established the collection of fees for licenses for the construction, reconstruction, expansion, and demolition of radio, cellular telephony, television, and communication antennas. The ruling, issued in Constitutional Controversy 191/2026, is published in the Official Gazette of the Federation on Monday, October 12, 2026 (Publication No. 279/2026), pages 235 to 259.

The invalidated norm was published in the Official Gazette of the State of Hidalgo on December 31, 2025 (No. 52, Supplement twenty) and set a fixed fee of 28,288.04 pesos annually per unit for “Radio, cellular telephony, t.v., communication antennas,” applicable in economic, popular, social interest, medium interest, medium residential, high residential, and rural housing developments.

The Federal Executive Power promoted the controversy on February 16, 2026, through Legal Counsel Esthela Damián Peralta; the case was filed on February 24 and admitted on February 27, 2026, with Minister Yasmín Esquivel Mossa as the instructing judge. The Executive and Legislative Powers of Hidalgo were sued, and the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate of the Congress of the Union appeared as interested third parties.

A specific burden on federal infrastructure

The Plenary concluded that Article 26 did not establish general fees for civil works, but rather charges expressly directed at telecommunications infrastructure, a matter reserved for the Federation by Articles 6, section B; 28; and 73, fraction XVII, of the Political Constitution of the United Mexican States. The annual nature of the charge, it added, was not exhausted in the initial review of the work, but rather had a continuous impact on the operation of the infrastructure.

The ruling emphasizes that the municipal powers of Article 115 of the Constitution regarding urban development, land use, and construction licenses are not absolute and must be exercised in harmony with federal competencies. The Law on Telecommunications and Broadcasting, published in the Official Gazette of the Federation on July 16, 2025, reserves for federal authorities the regulation, promotion, and supervision of the deployment and access to active and passive infrastructure.

The ruling also considered that the provision violates the legal certainty and tax legality of Articles 14, 16, and 31, fraction IV, of the Constitution, because it does not specify whether the charge falls on the concessionaire, the property owner, the antenna holder, or the end user. Among the precedents invoked are:

• Unconstitutionality Action 3/2023 and its accumulated cases, regarding the Revenue Law of Morelia, Michoacán.
• Constitutional Controversies 49/2024, 50/2024, 60/2024, 61/2024, 62/2024, 72/2024, 73/2024, 75/2024, 76/2024, 77/2024, and 78/2024, against revenue laws of municipalities in Coahuila.

Unanimous Voting and Concurring Opinion

The ruling was approved by a unanimous vote of nine Ministers: Herrerías Guerra, Espinosa Betanzo, Ríos González, Esquivel Mossa, Batres Guadarrama, Ortiz Ahlf, Figueroa Mejía, Guerrero García, and President Aguilar Ortiz. The judgment was certified on September 23, 2026, by the General Secretary of Agreements, Daniel Álvarez Toledo.

Minister Sara Irene Herrerías Guerra issued a concurring opinion published alongside the resolution: she maintained that the collection of construction licenses does not in itself constitute a telecommunications regulation, but agreed on the unconstitutionality because the reference to “Radio antennas, cellular telephony, t.v., communication” is overinclusive and contravenes the principle of legal certainty. Ministers Herrerías Guerra and Batres Guadarrama, and President Aguilar Ortiz, announced respective concurring opinions.

Effects of the Judgment

• The invalidity takes effect upon notification of the operative points to the Congress of the State of Hidalgo.
• The judgment must be notified to the Municipality of Yahualica, the authority responsible for applying the revenue law.
• The resolution will be published in the Official Gazette of the Federation, the Official Gazette of the State of Hidalgo, and the Judicial Weekly of the Federation and its Gazette.

The criterion reinforces the constitutional limit of municipal treasury regarding network deployment: city councils retain their general urban licenses, but cannot create authorizations or fees specifically directed at antennas, towers, or telecommunications cabling. For operators, the decision eliminates an annual per-unit charge that conditioned the permanence of their infrastructure; for municipalities, it warns that any local levy with that purpose will be invalidated for encroaching upon a matter of federal jurisdiction.

Source: Official Gazette of the Federation, No. 279/2026, October 12, 2026, Judiciary, pp. 235-259 (official reference: Constitutional Controversy 191/2026).