Mayor has a salary even superior to the President whilst mayors from smaller and poorer cantons receive a salary barely over the country's minimal wage. Councilors and Syndics receive only remuneration for their participation in the Municipal Council’s sessions, also proportional to the city’s budget but not a salary. Participation in District Councils is totally free and District Councilors do not receive any compensation nor the Syndic when chairing the sessions. Election All these offices are democratically elected and all of them can opt for immediate re-election with no term limits. Terms are of four years and elected mid-way during the presidential term (two years after the national election). It is required to be a resident in the canton for at least two years to be candidate for Mayor and/or Municipal Council and in the district for the distrital offices. There is no age limit (someone after 18 can be candidate) or limit for naturalized citizens as far as they also have the two years residence, unlike other offices (as for example, there is a minimal age of 21 to be member of Congress and 20 years residence for naturalized citizens and an age limit of 30 years-old minimal to be President and be citizen by birth). Costa Rica’s electoral law does not allow independent candidates, every candidate has to be nominated by a legally established political party, thus a proliferation of local political parties is very common and most cantons have at least one local party. Currently the parties with the most mayors, councilors and syndics are National Liberation, Social Christian Unity and Citizens Action. References Politics of Costa Rica Political organizations based in Costa Rica History of Costa Rica