Press Releases

The Comptroller of Puerto Rico issues a qualified opinion on the fiscal operations of the Municipality of Aguas Buenas. A qualified opinion is issued when the instances of noncompliance, individually or in the aggregate, are significant but not pervasive.

The Report reveals that from 2014 to 2016, the then mayor authorized 37 credit transfers totaling $309,593 without the Finance directors detailing in the surplus certifications the budgetary appropriations, the obligations, and the disbursements drawn against each of the affected line items. In fact, the budgetary appropriations for the payment of statutory obligations were reduced and the credits of the Municipality's operational line items were increased. This situation limits the ability to pay in order to meet commitments, may cause overdrafts, and prevents adequate control of their balances.

The three-finding audit notes that the Monthly Report of Revenues and Disbursements for May 2017 reflected economic resources amounting to $592,197 inactive for periods of up to more than 11 years. Our auditors also identified five bank accounts with balances of $164,150 inactive for periods of up to more than two years.

Contrary to Act 81-1991, the Municipality kept 151 employees in transitory positions, 139 of whom had been under that classification for up to 36 years. This situation, which undermines the merit principle in public service, had also been commented on in Audit Report M-15-33.

For fiscal year 2016, Aguas Buenas had an operational deficit of more than $1 million. In the 2015 and 2017 budgets, the Municipality did not allocate the credits necessary to reduce the current deficits. The audit also comments that the Municipality had not recovered $42,585 for various items that had been recommended in previous audit reports.

The Report covers the period from January 1, 2014 to May 31, 2017.

See Audit Report M-18-28.

To see other published reports, visit our Audit Reports section.