The Government Development Bank of Puerto Rico has gone to court in an effort to receive $400 million in local property tax revenue which they claim has being illegally withheld from them by the Municipal Revenue Collections Center (CRIM).

Although CRIM appears to have the $400 million, back in June its board decided to withhold the money from the bank.

As The New York Times reports, Karolee García Figueroa, the bank’s chief operating officer, said, “Through this illegal action, the CRIM is putting the finances of all municipalities in danger, and likely exposing them to claims from their creditors.”

The U.S. territory of Puerto Rico is currently $73 billion in debt. Gov. Alejandro García Padilla has gone so far as to call this debt “unpayable.” An unknown part of the $400 million, which the Government Development Bank seeks, is supposed to be used to pay off some of the debt.

The Atlantic details how Puerto Rico suffers from the odd economic strain of being twice as poor as the poorest U.S. state (Mississippi) while at the same time having a cost of living that is 13 percent higher than in the United States. Puerto Rico's economy is essentially controlled by U.S. corporations that have the power to fix prices on basic purchases.

Washington-based columnist Ramesh Ponnuru assessed Puerto Rico’s unique financial situation and thinks the solution would be to just let the island go bankrupt. Writing in Bloomberg, Ponnuru maintains that extending Chapter 9 to Puerto Rico would offer its citizens some relief and provide taxpayers some protection.

“Creditors, not taxpayers, should take the hit for unwise loans,” he said.

On Thursday Puerto Rico placed a new 4 percent tax on professional services provided to businesses on the island.