Torres et al. v. the Municipality of Parral, Docket No. 4,274-1993, when the plaintiffs requested attachment of several municipal vehicles, their petition was denied with the argument that the vehicles were designated for use in the operation of municipal services.401 Finally, of the thirteen procedures at hand, the case file shows that items were successfully attached and sold at auction in only three cases,402 and these auctions produced enough to provide only partial payment of the amounts owed, showing that the measure was ineffective. B.2.3.4. Payment plans 164. The parties to six of the processes403 contracted partial payment plans. This option, however, cannot be considered an effective measure for enforcement of the judgment, as it depends on the good will of the defendant. In the event of noncompliance, case law is itself contradictory, as the court hearing the case against the municipality of Chañaral agreed to review the agreement and declared it null and void,404 while the court in the cases against the municipality of Parral refused to take measures regarding non-compliance with the agreement.405 The inconsistent case law exacerbated the ineffectiveness of the contracted payment plans, as there was no legal certainty that the debtor might face legal consequences in case of nonpayment, nor were clear mechanisms available to ensure enforcement of them. B.2.3.5. The absence of legal and material mechanisms for obliging the State to meet the municipalities’ debts 165. The chief obstacle to executing convictions against municipalities lies in the difficulty for them to find sufficient funds to pay large sums of money, as in this particular case. Indeed, the national Constitution defines the municipalities as autonomous public law corporations with their own legal status and assets.406 Furthermore, Article 122 grants them autonomy to manage their finances and defines three sources of municipal revenue: provisions established in the budget law, enactment of other laws, and creation by law of an instrument for solidarity-based redistribution of revenue.407 401 Cf. Order by the Parral Court of Appeals, May 14, 1997 in the framework of the process Bayer Torres et al. v. the Municipality of Parral, Docket No. 4,274-1993 (evidence file,, folio 17790 and 17791). 402 Municipal assets were successfully auctioned in the processes of Bustamante Sánchez et al. v. the Municipality of Parral, Docket No. 4,071-1992 (evidence file, folio 17382; Salazar Aravena et al. v. the Municipality of Parral, Docket No. 4,096-1992 (evidence file, folio 17600) and Ramírez Ortíz et al. v. the Municipality of Vallenar, Docket No. 4443-1993 (evidence file, folios 13825 to 13836 and 14030 to 14039). 403 Cf. Benavides Montaña et al. v. the Municipality of Chañaral, Docket No. 18,629-1994 (evidence file, folios 956 to 961 and 2198 a 2199); Bayer Torres et al. v. the Municipality of Parral, Docket No. 4,274-1993 (evidence file, folios 17796 to 17801; Bustamante Sánchez et al. v. the Municipality of Parral, Docket No. 4,071-1992 (evidence file, folios 17397 to 17402; Belmar Montero et al. v. the Municipality of Parral, Docket No. 4,051-1992 (evidence file, folios 17200 to 17204; Salazar Aravena et al. v. the Municipality of Parral, Docket No. 4,096-1992 (evidence file, folios 17617 to 17621) and (6) Ramírez Ortiz et al. v. the Municipality of Vallenar, Docket No. 4,443-1993 (evidence file, folios 14377 to 14379). 404 Cf. Order by the Copiapó Court of Appeals, April 22, 2003, in the framework of the process Benavides Montaña et al. v. the Municipality of Chañaral, Docket No. 18,629-1094 (evidence file, folios 1094 and 1095). 405 Cf. Order by the Talca Court of Appeals, March 18, 2009, in the framework of the process Bayer Torres et al. v. the Municipality of Parral, Docket No. 4,274-1933 (evidence file, folio 17872). 406 Cf. Article 118 of the Constitution of the Republic of Chile, 1980, text consolidated by Executive Order 100, September 22, 2005 (evidence file, folio 10257). 407 Cf. Article 122 of the Constitution of the Republic of Chile, 1980, text consolidated by Executive Order 100, September 22, 2005 (evidence file, folios 10258 and 10259). 57