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The Comptroller of Puerto Rico issued a qualified opinion of the fiscal operations of the Municipality of Hormigueros. A qualified opinion is issued when noncompliances, individually or in the aggregate, are significant but not pervasive.

The Report reveals that the Municipality formalized two contracts and 11 amendments for design and construction services for the water park, and for the disposal system at the landfill for $1.4 million, with two regular corporations that were not authorized to practice engineering or to offer design services. The law and the jurisprudence in force provide that a regular corporation cannot provide professional engineering services.

The audit of one finding also notes that the Municipality did not request or obtain from the corporations a copy of the professional licenses that credentialed them to offer engineering services. The College of Engineers in fact certified that the officers, employees, and agents of corporation A were not licensed members, and that a corporate officer and a manager of corporation B were not either. These situations were referred to the president of the College of Engineers on May 23, 2019 for the corresponding action.

The report recommends that the Secretary of Justice consider the situations and take the appropriate measures, and that the mayor evaluate a possible recovery action. In addition, it recommends that the director of the Office of Management and Budget ensure that the Municipality complies with the Corrective Action Plan established by the Office of the Comptroller.

These situations have the effect of limiting the Municipality's scope of action and allowing unauthorized persons to practice the engineering profession. In addition, similar situations had already been noted in Audit Report M-17-22 of 2017.

This second and final Hormigueros report covers the period from January 1, 2015 to June 30, 2017.

See Audit Report M-20-16.

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