Press Releases

The Comptroller of Puerto Rico issued a qualified opinion on the fiscal operations of the municipality of Cabo Rojo. A qualified opinion is issued when the noncompliance items, individually or together, are significant, but not pervasive.

The Report reveals that 90% of the credit transfers between budget line items from January to June 2017 were reported to the Municipal Legislature up to eight months after the transaction. This situation did not allow the Municipal Legislature to pass judgment on those transactions. Act 81-1991, the Autonomous Municipalities Act, provides that notification by executive order be made within five days of its signing.

The one-finding audit comments that 95 employees out of a total of 110 have been classified as temporary for up to 15 years, contrary to Act 81-1991. The salaries of these employees were paid from the Operational Fund.

In addition, the Office of Government Ethics (OEG) fined the mayor for using a political insignia at the Municipality's facilities while during working hours. The Court of Appeals confirmed the OEG's resolution and the mayor paid the administrative fine of $4,000 in 2019.

The Municipality has taken measures to address the financial crisis such as: reduction of the workday, a 10% reduction in the monthly salary of confidential officials and the payment of up to five days of the excess over 18 days accrued for sick leave. The mayor indicated that these measures helped restore the full workday as of July 1, 2019 to maintenance and grounds employees.

The Report recommends that the Office of Municipal Management of the Office of Management and Budget ensure that the Municipality complies with the Corrective Action Plan established by the Office of the Comptroller.

This Report, the second and last for Cabo Rojo, covers the period from July 1, 2015 to November 30, 2018.

See Audit Report M-20-32.

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