The Office of the Comptroller of Puerto Rico issued a qualified opinion on the fiscal operations of the Senate of Puerto Rico. A qualified opinion is issued when the instances of noncompliance, individually or in the aggregate, are significant but not pervasive.
The Report reveals that the Senate improperly paid $74,908 for the health plan of 10 of the 15 officers who served as escorts to the then presidents of the Senate from 2013 to 2018. These officers already had a health plan paid for them by the Police Bureau for $19,000. In this regard, the Senate acted contrary to the Political Code of Puerto Rico by extraordinarily compensating the officers, by paying their health plan, without legal authority to do so.
The six-finding audit notes, from a sample, that 46% of the Senate employees in supervisory positions accrued and used compensatory time to which they were not entitled. This $2,265 payment, for the period from 2013 to 2018, is null and contrary to the regulations in force.
The auditors identified that, of the total purchases of $376,921 between 2013 and 2020, 20% corresponded to extravagant, excessive, and unnecessary expenses such as, for example, a sofa for $2,545, two chandelier lamps for $1,200 each, or a console table for $870 requested by the staff of a former legislator, or two laptops for $9,106 for the Office of the Presidency in 2016. In addition, the Senate purchased 225 red shirts for a sporting event whose participation in itself included an official shirt for the registrants.
The attendance and leave recording system acquired for $21,849 had multiple deficiencies since the accrual of leave had to be done manually, it did not deduct compensatory time, and the screen did not provide basic information to the employee, among other deficiencies that only the provider could assist with. These situations are attributed to the absence of an evaluation of the need and convenience of purchasing the aforementioned system.
The Report also reveals that, as of June 30, 2020, the Senate lacked certain provisions to regulate the use and control of the credit card account such as: the designation of a card administrator, the type of goods that may be acquired, or the transactions that would not be permitted, among others.
This third and final Report on the Senate covers the period from January 1, 2013 to November 30, 2020.
See Audit Report DA-22-15.
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