The Office of the Comptroller of Puerto Rico issues a favorable opinion with exceptions on the management and control of the operational budget, the contracting of professional services, and the construction of permanent works and improvements of the Municipality of Cabo Rojo, among others.
The Report reveals that the Municipality used, to purchase investments at a bank, the funds that the Legislative Assembly allocated through joint resolutions (Barril and Barrilito), for the purchase of land and the construction of permanent works and improvements. From December 2009 to November 2014, Cabo Rojo maintained investments fluctuating from $5.8 to $9.6 million at a banking institution without the authorization of the Legislative Assembly. Nor did it submit for the approval of the Municipal Legislature a bank line of credit for $809,948, for which it used the aforementioned investments as collateral. These situations can be detrimental and affect future allocations of funds.
Our Office referred to the Secretary of Justice, the College of Engineers and Surveyors of Puerto Rico, and the Examining Board of Engineers and Surveyors of Puerto Rico on December 19, 2016, the contracting of engineering services to a corporation that was not constituted as a professional corporation as provided by Act 173 of August 12, 1988. Also, contrary to Act 319 of May 15, 1938, three persons who were not registered as engineers or surveyors of the College of Architects and Landscape Architects of Puerto Rico inspected and certified 35 projects in Cabo Rojo.
The four-finding audit points out that from June 2013 to July 2015, the Municipality formalized four contracts for $391,825 with a contractor without obtaining quotes from at least three suppliers. In addition, our auditors identified that for six works for $389,411, 44 quotes from seven companies were considered, of which seven turned out to be false.
The Report notes the case of the dismissal of the Caretaker of the Las Delicias Cemetery in January 2014 after it was determined in an internal audit that he sold a grave to a private individual and issued an official certification. Our auditors investigated another complaint received in July 2014 and determined that the Caretaker intervened in the sale of three graves for $1,000, $600, and $1,500, issued certifications for each of them, and asked the buyers for payment in cash. The municipal officials did not refer this case to the Office of Government Ethics, the Department of Justice, or the Office of the Comptroller.
The Report covers the period from July 1, 2011 to June 30, 2015.
See Audit Report M-17-39
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