In 1864, the town was incorporated into the municipality of Tayug due to its inability to maintain its financial stability.

The application was granted and Santa Maria, again became a town under the governance of Captain Eugenio Vinluan.

From this date to the present, the different successions of presidents, alcaldes and mayors had occurred all over the islands.

In the course of time prominent people improved the locality and transferred the town site from Namagbagan, which is now a barrio of the municipality, to its present site near a clay promontory where it formed an impregnable defense against the yearly erosion of the Agno, thus annexing "De Pila" to the original name and making Santa Maria de Pila its final name, a name which is known beyond the confines of the province of Pangasinan.

Poverty Incidence of Santa Maria Source: Philippine Statistics Authority[10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17] Santa Maria, belonging to the sixth congressional district of the province of Pangasinan, is governed by a mayor designated as its local chief executive and by a municipal council as its legislative body in accordance with the Local Government Code.