The Comptroller of Puerto Rico issued a qualified opinion on the fiscal operations of the Municipality of Aibonito. A qualified opinion is issued when the individual or combined noncompliances are significant, but not pervasive.
The Report reveals that the Purchasing Regulation of Aibonito of 2004 had not been updated to include the provisions established in Act 81-1991 and in the Regulation for Municipal Administration of 2016, regarding the holding of public bids for the purchase of goods in excess of $100,000 and of construction materials in excess of $200,000. The outdated purchasing document sets the amounts at $10,000 and $40,000, respectively.
The three-finding audit notes that the Municipality had not submitted 36 monthly payroll and position reports to the Office of the Comptroller, as provided by Act 103-2006, for the Fiscal Reform of the Government and Regulation 53, Registry of Positions. This situation prevented said information from being available from 2017 to 2020. In addition, a similar situation had been commented on in the Audit Report M-19-34 of 2019.
The Report reveals that the Internal Audit Unit has been inoperative, and the internal auditor position has been vacant since 2006 —except for the period from August 3, 2009 to June 30, 2010. This situation, repeated in the audit reports: M-19-34 of 2019, M-14-58 of 2014, M-13-11 of 2012, and M-09-61 of 2009, prevents maintaining continuous and effective oversight of the Municipality's finances and operations.
The audit comments that 11 of the 32 Municipality employees have been kept classified in transitory appointments for up to more than five years, contrary to the maximum of one year established by law. In addition, the Municipality has not addressed the recommendations of the Audit Report M-09-61 of 2009, to recover $35,308 for the use of the credit card for personal expenses, and for penalties not imposed on contractors for the late delivery of two construction projects.
The Aibonito Report covers the period from July 1, 2017 to June 30, 2020.
See the Audit Report M-21-40.
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