The Comptroller of Puerto Rico issues a qualified opinion on the fiscal operations of the Municipality of Adjuntas related to the municipal accounting and cash, the purchases and disbursements, and the works construction contracts. 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 Municipality carried out additional work to the remodeling project of the Head Start program classrooms ($29,261) without the quotes required by law. In addition, it paid a professional services contract of $22,100 with federal funds without obtaining proposals from two or more suppliers.
The Municipality did not obtain the permits from the Permit Management Office for the construction of 50 vaults in the Remanso de Paz cemetery ($83,910). On the other hand, it obtained the construction permit for the Guarionex Recreational Center ($3.5 million) two months after the work was completed, when by law it should have been before.
The 14-finding audit notes that inspection reports were not prepared for four works, nor inspection minutes, contrary to Act 81-1991 of Autonomous Municipalities. This situation made it impossible to verify the correctness and propriety of the constructed works, and the Municipality has no evidence to demonstrate that the works were carried out in accordance with the plans and specifications.
Our auditors identified multiple deficiencies with the collections, conflicting tasks of the collector and the pre-intervention officer, and the use of the same access key to the system by the auxiliary collectors. These and other situations had already been pointed out in Audit Report M-15-24 of 2015.
From 2013 to 2016, the position of internal auditor was vacant, for which reason the Internal Audit Unit was inoperative. The budgets assigned to the Unit were transferred by the mayor to other line items to cover other operational expenses of Adjuntas and, during those years, it did not recruit an internal auditor for the Municipality. This situation had already been pointed out in audit reports of 2009, 2012, and 2015.
The Report indicates that the municipal officials and employees could not explain the inactivity of $4.1 million in 77 special funds reflected in the monthly reports as of December 31
of 2015. As of that date, the Municipality also kept funds of $1.1 million in bank accounts that had remained inactive for more than 11 years.
The audit comments that the Municipality had a lawsuit pending resolution of $83,000 before the Public Service Appeals Commission for unjustified dismissal.
The Report covers the period from January 1, 2013 to December 31, 2016
See Audit Report M-18-21.
To see other published reports, visit our Audit Reports section.
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