The Office of the Comptroller of Puerto Rico issued a qualified opinion on the fiscal operations related to the acquisition of school transportation services in the Municipality of Aguas Buenas. A qualified opinion is issued when the instances of noncompliance, individually or together, are significant but not pervasive.
The Report reveals that from 2014 to 2017, the Municipality of Aguas Buenas disbursed more than a million dollars on the school transportation service for which it had not held a public bid. The general bid for the acquisition of goods and services that it held in 2014 did not include school transportation. Two school transportation providers indicated to our auditors that they decided not to participate in the bid because what was stated in the bid specifications was not related to school transportation but to transportation in general from Aguas Buenas to other towns.
In fact, on September 20, 2018, the contracting that the former mayor carried out with his cousin to provide the school transportation service was referred to the Puerto Rico Office of Government Ethics. This situation could constitute a violation of the Government Ethics Act.
The audit, with three findings, points out that six of the nine amendments made to the $1.1 million contract for the school transportation service were submitted with delays of up to three months. Municipalities must submit a copy of all contracts within the 15 days following their formalization, since no performance may be required until the contract has been registered in the Office of the Comptroller of Puerto Rico.
Contrary to the law and the regulations in force, the Municipality did not locate for examination by our auditors five disbursement vouchers and their supporting documents from 2014 and 2015. This situation may lead to irregularities being committed, or that they cannot be detected in time to assign responsibilities.
The Report notes that Aguas Buenas has paid more than half a million dollars for settlement agreements of lawsuits since 2013. The lawsuits against the Municipality were for violation of civil rights in dismissals for political affiliation, discrimination for disability, and for damages to a minor. In fact, as of June 30, 2018, 10 civil lawsuits for $2.2 million were pending resolution by the courts.
In addition, the Office of Government Ethics required the mayor of Aguas Buenas, on January 17, 2018, to reimburse $16,620 of his own funds to the municipal coffers, for not requesting the required waiver in the appointment of a municipal official. The mayor had to request a waiver before appointing the director of internal audit, since his father was a municipal legislator. The Report, the third and last of the Municipality of Aguas Buenas, covers the period from January 1, 2014, to June 30, 2018
See the Audit Report M-19-36.
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