The Office of the Comptroller of Puerto Rico issues an adverse opinion on the regulations, accounts payable and contracts of the Metropolitan Bus Authority.
The audit reveals that the AMA's 58 regulations, procedures and manuals had gone up to 38 years without being reviewed and approved. In fact, a regulation review Committee was formed on December 15, 2015, but after a year and a half it had not met to address the situation of the obsolete regulations. This situation prevents the AMA from exercising adequate control and fosters the commission of irregularities.
The Report points out that the AMA has owed $85 million since 2008 to several government entities. The affected agencies are: the Retirement System, the Department of the Treasury, the State Insurance Fund, the Electric Power Authority, the Department of Labor, the Aqueduct and Sewer Authority, the Land Administration and the General Services Administration.
In addition, for interest, fines, surcharges and penalties it has had to pay $1.5 million to the Retirement System, Department of the Treasury and Internal Revenue Service, and still owes $18.5 million for these deficiencies. Our auditors also identified that the $5.8 million deposited by the Federal Transit Administration from 2010 to 2017 to pay the fringe benefits of the maintenance and repair employees were not used for the approved purposes, among other control failures.
The five-finding audit describes the multiple deficiencies in the recording of accounts payable, in the formalization and administration of the contracts awarded to certified public accountants and the delays of more than a year in recording and submitting the contracts and amendments to the Office of the Comptroller of Puerto Rico.
The Report comments that the AMA has failed to comply with the recommendations of the external auditors, among others, with the failure to pay multimillion-dollar debts, the absence of reconciliation of the daily reports or delays in the payment of Social Security remittances. In addition, the AMA lost $51 million in its revenue from 2013 to 2016 and revenue from passenger fares decreased by 53%, that is, from $4.9 million in 2013 to $2.3 million in 2016. This and other situations may make it difficult for the AMA to fulfill its purpose and affect thousands of citizens who have no other transportation alternative.
The Report covers the period from July 1, 2010, to December 31, 2016.
See Audit Report CP-18-06
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