The Office of the Comptroller of Puerto Rico issued a qualified opinion on the fiscal operations of the Municipality of Salinas. 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 Mayor and the Human Resources Director of Salinas granted employees time off on 29 occasions, equivalent to 100.5 hours, without charge to leave and without the approval of the Municipal Legislature. The Comptroller's auditors could not determine the payroll expenses paid for the time granted for the celebration of: Working Woman's Day, administrative professional weeks, and the mayor's meeting, among others. This situation does not allow the Municipal Legislature to judge the correctness and reasonableness of the time granted without charge to leave.
The audit, of three findings, points out that the appointments of three officials to six trust positions were made without these meeting the minimum requirements of academic preparation and experience. For example, an official with a bachelor's degree in education with a concentration in history was appointed director of Federal Programs in October 2015, then on January 16, 2017 she held the position of Finance director and on September 16, 2017 she was designated to the position of internal auditor. This official, confirmed by the Municipal Legislature, did not have a bachelor's degree in Business Administration, nor concentrations in Accounting or Finance, nor the years of experience for any of the positions.
The same occurred with the appointment of a person in the Federal Programs directorate in 2017, who did not meet the minimum requirement of four years of experience, and of the Public Works director who also did not meet the minimum requirements, nor the alternate requirements to hold the position.
The Municipality of Salinas failed to comply with Act 103-2006, which requires that municipalities be up to date with the submission of the Monthly Report of Payrolls and Positions to the Office of the Comptroller of Puerto Rico. The examination performed revealed that the liaison officer submitted that Report up to two and a half years later than provided by the applicable law and regulations.
The audit comments that the Municipality incurred disbursements for lawsuits amounting to $263,534 without receiving any benefit in return. For example, the Municipality disbursed $154,200 to 23 plaintiffs for political discrimination following a settlement agreement before the Court of First Instance. In addition, the Municipality disbursed $14,800 to two employees who claimed to have been dismissed for political reasons, following an agreement before the Public Service Appeals Commission.
In February 2015, the Court approved a private agreement of $12,000 following a civil lawsuit filed by an employee for sexual harassment by the former mayor and a Municipal Police sergeant. In addition, by order of the Court, the Municipality had to pay $82,534 to a Municipal Police sergeant who won the appeal before the Investigation, Prosecution and Appeals Commission to be reinstated in the position.
On the other hand, the Municipality has taken measures to address the fiscal crisis such as: the reduction of 10% of the mayor's monthly salary and 5% of trust employees, a reduction of one day per month in the workday of career employees and the freezing of vacant positions, among others.
As of June 30, 2018, $247,072 had not been recovered for various concepts corresponding to audit reports M-16-13 and M-17-13, both of 2016.
This second report of Salinas covers the period from July 1, 2014 to June 30, 2018.
See Audit Report M-20-22.
To see other published reports, visit our Audit Reports section.
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