The Office of the Comptroller of Puerto Rico issued a qualified opinion on the fiscal operations of the Municipality of Quebradillas. 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 construction projects for $180,479, without the permits from the Permit Management Office and without the required bond. The permits for the construction of a community center and the electronic library in the Terranova Ward were obtained 25 days later, and the bond for the first amendment to that contract, 27 days later. A similar situation had been mentioned in Audit Report M-16-46 of 2016.
The audit, of six findings, points out that the Municipality paid $18,047 to the community center contractor without having the final inspection and certification of the contracted engineer. In addition, it disbursed $146,494 to the contractor of the restrooms and kiosks of the Raymond Dalmau Coliseum, without the signature of the project's inspecting engineer. This situation could have been detrimental, in the event that the contractor billed for work not performed as of the date of payment, among other effects.
The Municipality's Finance department did not record the budgetary appropriations necessary to pay construction contracts and professional services until six weeks later and, in some cases, after having begun to receive the services. In addition, they submitted to the Contract Registry of the Office of the Comptroller (OCPR) the copies of contracts and amendments amounting to $435,566, up to six months after they were granted, contrary to what the law and regulations in effect provide.
The Comptroller's auditors uncovered that 75% of the reported cases of incidents of losses and irregularities were not investigated and were notified to the Office of the Comptroller up to 14 months later. In this regard, the Report recommends that the Mayor ensure that accidents with vehicles and the loss of property are notified to the Office of the Comptroller within the established time.
In Quebradillas, no performance evaluations of municipal personnel were carried out for the audited period, despite having a System that requires that employees be evaluated once a year. Nor, in the personnel recruitment process, did they verify or investigate the references of the 147 employees appointed during that period. The Municipality did not have annual personnel training plans, and had not updated the Personnel Regulation or the Position Classification Plan.
Contrary to Act 81-1991 on Autonomous Municipalities, the Internal Audit Unit had not, as of June 30, 2018, performed audits on the accounting controls, procedures and functioning. This situation prevents maintaining effective oversight of the Municipality's finances and operations.
The Quebradillas Report comments that the municipality kept 50 employees classified as temporary for up to more than 24 years. In addition, as of June 30, 2018, the Municipality had two civil lawsuits for $1.2 million pending resolution by the Courts.
Another Special Comment points out that the Municipality had not returned some $28,876 to the Administration for the Care and Integral Development after this agency detected that the director of the Child Care Development Fund program did not meet the required academic preparation requirements. The Mayor removed the employee from his position, but as of May 2, 2018, he had still not returned the funds.
This first report of Quebradillas covers the period from January 1, 2015 to June 30, 2018.
See Audit Report M-20-25.
To see other published reports, visit our Audit Reports section.
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