The Office of the Comptroller of Puerto Rico issued a qualified opinion on the fiscal operations of the Municipality of Ciales. A qualified opinion is issued when noncompliances, individually or together, are significant but not pervasive.
The Report reveals the lack of documentation in the bidding file of the $409,086 remodeling of the industrial building in the urban center of Ciales. In addition, in the sample of construction works files evaluated, the inspection reports and final plans were not found for examination and none had the cost estimates of the projects. Nor did the file of the repair of the bridge in the Toro Negro River have the inspection report for the period from January 14 to February 28, 2019.
These situations prevent maintaining reliable records of the agreements established by the Bidding Board and the work related to public works. From 2015 to 2019, the Municipality had formalized 25 contracts and 19 amendments for construction works and repair of structures for $1,871,902.
The five-finding audit notes that the Municipality did not document the process of requesting quotes and adjudication with the name, title, and signature of the employee who received them. In addition, for the remodeling of the industrial building on Guillermina Dávila Street, it obtained the permit from the Permit Management Office (OGPe) 11 months after starting construction. These situations lead to irregularities being committed and do not allow OGPe to exercise its regulatory function.
The Municipality of Ciales recorded up to nine months late, 218 contracts and 53 amendments for $3,329,606. Municipalities must submit to the Office of the Comptroller the contracts and amendments within the 15 days following the date of their execution since no rendering of services may be demanded until the contract has been registered.
From 2018 to 2019, the Bidding Board was not constituted by the five members required by law. This situation is attributed to the fact that people do not accept being part of the Board when they are told that they have to complete government ethics reports.
The audit comments that the Municipality had accumulated deficits of 59% of its total budget for 2016, 55% for 2017, and 67% for 2018. A similar situation had been commented on in Audit Report M-16-43 of 2016.
Ciales had a civil lawsuit for damages pending resolution in the courts for $10,300, as of June 30, 2019. In addition, it had not recovered $66,002 in payments made for contracts not registered with the Office of the Comptroller of Puerto Rico, for undue exemptions from the payment of excise taxes, and for deficiencies in construction works, noted in audit reports of 2010, 2016, and 2017.
The Report recommends to the director of the Office of Management and Budget to ensure that the Municipality complies with the Corrective Action Plan established by the Office of the Comptroller of Puerto Rico, among others.
The Ciales report covers the period from July 1, 2015 to June 30, 2019.
See Audit Report M-21-10.
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