The Office of the Comptroller of Puerto Rico issued a qualified opinion of the fiscal operations of the Municipality of Toa Alta. A qualified opinion is issued when the individual or aggregate noncompliances are significant, but not pervasive.
The Report reveals that Toa Alta disbursed $12,622,952 on a five-story structure for parking, offices and other uses, which has been abandoned and halted since 2015. The investment of $6,702,916 by the former mayor and $5,920,036 by the current mayor has had no utility or benefit to the public interest. (see photos in Exhibit 2 of the Report)
In addition, in 2016 the Municipality purchased 42 outdoor exercise machines to install in seven recreational areas for $57,995, which as of 2019 were stored and unused. (see photos in Exhibit 3 of the Report)
The eight-finding audit notes that Toa Alta acquired for $98,850 by bid in 2013 a 10' x 30' color LED screen for external use to be placed at the entrance of the town. In 2018 the screen remained in boxes in a state of deterioration, stored at the City Hall. For this transaction, the Bids Board did not impose the penalty for late delivery and the Municipality did not ensure its installation. (see photos in exhibit 4 of the Report)
Contrary to current law and regulation, the Municipality split the cost of the construction works at the Laura Dávila Félix court to bypass the public bid requirement that must be held when the work exceeds $200,000. Instead, the Municipality awarded a contract for $168,472 and prior to the effectiveness of the contract the mayor approved two purchase orders that raised the project to $209,468. This situation prevented free competition, gives the impression of favoritism and encourages the commission of irregularities.
From the analysis of the purchase quotations from 2014 to 2018, quotations were identified with dates up to eight months prior to the purchase, and purchase orders with dates subsequent to the purchase. In addition, quotations were processed without identifying the employee who handled them and the availability of funds in purchase orders was not verified.
The auditors detected that the acting Finance directors awarded contracts for $3,265,363 without having committed the budget appropriations until three months later. In addition, the acting municipal secretaries submitted contracts and amendments to the Office of the Comptroller of Puerto Rico up to one month late, contrary to what is established in current law and regulation.
The Report reveals multiple deficiencies in the accounting and financial activity from 2014 to 2018; for example, the supporting documents of 52 disbursement vouchers were not marked as paid, two disbursement vouchers for the payment of school transportation were not recorded, and 38 disbursement vouchers and their supporting documents were not provided. In addition, a debt incurred in 2014 was paid from the 2015 budget item contrary to Act 81-1991 on Autonomous Municipalities.
The Municipality lacks regulation for the processing of payments by electronic transfers. From 2014 to 2017, 1,678 payments for $29,737,950 had been made by electronic transfers.
The audit notes that the president of the Bids Board did not adequately protect the interests of the Municipality since the minutes were not drafted at the opening of three formal bids and the adjudication minutes of four bids were not prepared.
The Report comments that the Office of the Inspector General of the Federal Department of Housing questioned whether the objectives and benefits foreseen in the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program were met, due to the disbursement of more than $9.5 million under Section 108 for the construction of a multipurpose building and a municipal cemetery. In addition, the Inspector General's monitoring report indicates that the Municipality used $139,767 in ineligible expenses and that the accounting records did not reflect the totality of the financial information.
As of December 31, 2018, Toa Alta had not recovered $3,179,182 corresponding to audit reports of 2009, 2010, 2013 and 2016.
The Audit Report recommends to the director of the Office of Management and Budget that he ensure that the Municipality complies with the Corrective Action Plan established by the Office of the Comptroller of Puerto Rico.
This third and final report on Toa Alta covers the period from January 1, 2014 to December 31, 2018.
See Audit Report M-21-34.
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