The Office of the Comptroller of Puerto Rico issues a partially adverse opinion on the administration of budgets, purchases and disbursements, the contracting of professional and consulting services, biddings, and property, among other areas, of the Municipality of Vega Alta.
The Report reveals deviations from provisions of law and regulations because construction works were split so that they would not exceed $200,000 and thus avoid holding biddings as provided by Act 81-1991. The Municipality split $1 million among 14 contracts and 6 amendments for the construction of gutters, sidewalks, and curbs. For the contracting of security guards from March to December 2015 for $129,891, the Municipality also did not hold a public bidding.
In addition, in Vega Alta works for $6 million were carried out without obtaining the permits from the Permit Management Office or from the Department of Transportation and Public Works. In one of those projects, the remodeling of the Julio “Papo” Dávila baseball park, $28,500 was paid for seven air conditioners, but only three units were installed. We attribute the situations to the fact that the former Mayor, the Finance Director, the Municipal Secretary, and the engineering staff did not adequately protect the Municipality's interests.
The nine-finding audit notes deficiencies with: the credit transfers between budget items that were not submitted for the approval of the Municipal Legislature, the award of a retroactive contract for $9,000 for the lease of a premises, and the Public Documents Office that was not suitable to preserve the documents due to the presence of mold, leaks, and lack of ventilation. A similar situation had been noted in Audit Report M-15-21 of 2015.
The Report comments that in 2014, after seven years of litigation, the municipality of Vega Alta reached a settlement agreement for $625,000 with the developer companies of the social-interest multifamily residences Paseo de la Vega I, II, and III, which sued after the cancellation of their contracts in 2005. In addition, as of December 31, 2015, two civil lawsuits remained pending resolution by the courts: one for $45,000, for collection of money, and the other before the Federal Court, for $4.5 million for political discrimination and violation of civil rights.
The Report covers the period from July 1, 2012 to December 31, 2015.
See Audit Report M-18-01
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