This paper analyzes the judicial conflict that arose regarding the port tax created by the Municipality of Necochea in 2015 to finance the maintenance of road infrastructure used by transportation bound for Puerto Quequén. The litigation, brought by major export companies and industry chambers, lasted seven years and culminated in the 2024 ruling of the Administrative Litigation Chamber of Mar del Plata, which upheld the validity of the tax and overturned the first-instance decision that had deemed it inapplicable. The ruling once again brings to the forefront historical and structural issues of the province concerning the scope of municipal taxing powers. From a historical-institutional perspective, the article examines how these conflicts are embedded in processes of decentralization and port privatization and in the structural limitations that constrain the financial autonomy of municipalities.