The Office of the Comptroller of Puerto Rico issued a qualified opinion on the fiscal operations of the General Services Administration (ASG) related to the contracts for professional and consulting services. A qualified opinion is issued when noncompliances, individually or in the aggregate, are significant but not pervasive.
The Report reveals that the ASG paid $74,887 in excess of the agreed amount to a consultant in information systems. The examination conducted of seven of its invoices found that two of them exceeded the maximum amount established in the fifth clause of the original contract and an amendment. One of the recommendations to the General Services Administrator is to determine whether the recovery of the $74,887 paid in excess is appropriate.
The three-finding audit notes that seven contracts and five amendments were paid for $716,500 to perform tasks similar to those established in the Position Classification Plan of the ASG approved in 2004. For example, the ASG contracted for four months in 2013 an information systems consultant for $363,999 whose functions were similar to those of the network administrator position whose basic salary is $2,513 monthly. In addition, the ASG awarded another contract for 13 months for accounting, auditing, and managerial advisory services for $100,000, to perform functions similar to those of an Auditor II whose basic salary is $2,513 monthly. This situation, contrary to current law and regulations, was detrimental to the public interest and the finances of the ASG since compensations greater than those corresponding to salaries in regular positions were disbursed.
Our auditors identified that the ASG formalized three contracts from 2015 to 2016, for $67,500, for services of review and updating of various regulations on the operations of the ASG in the areas of bids, acquisitions, state surplus property, and others. However, as of August 21, 2017, the administrator had not completed the process of review and approval of the drafts. This situation may result in the reviewed work being of no use or becoming obsolete due to the new changes in the laws and regulations.
The Report covers the period from January 1, 2013 to November 30, 2016.
See the Audit Report DA-19-16.
To see other published reports, visit our Audit Reports section.
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