The Office of the Comptroller of Puerto Rico issued a qualified opinion on the fiscal operations of the Municipality of San Lorenzo. A qualified opinion is issued when the instances of noncompliance, individually or in the aggregate, are significant but not pervasive.
The Report reveals that, in an inspection of the municipal warehouse, a Grader New Holland tractor valued at $98,986 was not located. In addition, from the analysis of a sample of 43 units of the total inventory of 6,504 units with a value of $65,683,195 for 2018-19, 13 units of the property (30%), valued at $94,736, were not located. The officials of San Lorenzo were also unable to indicate where six electric generators, a conference table, two watercraft, and a pressure washing machine, among other equipment, were located, nor did they provide the receipts for these units.
The two-finding audit notes that the property officer did not carry out the annual physical inventory of the property in 2020. A similar situation had been published in Audit Report M-16-33 of May 24, 2016. In addition, the write-off of 112 property units had not been recorded as of June 30, 2021 in the Monet Accounting System, and the Municipality had not included 11 motor vehicles with a value of $99,272 in the physical inventory of fiscal year 2018-19.
These situations reflect the lack of adequate controls and foster the loss or improper use of the property. The Report recommends that the heavy equipment and municipal property be located, that it be investigated whether they were seized, that it be determined whether there was fault or negligence, and whether the corresponding collection is appropriate.
Contrary to the law and the norms in force, as of December 31, 2020, the Municipality had not established the corresponding regulations regarding the administration and use of the information systems. This situation may foster the improper use of the information systems and makes it difficult to establish adequate control.
The audit comments on the budget deficits in the Operational Fund that amounted to $72,398 in 2019 and $257,514 in 2020. A similar situation had been commented on in Audit Report M-20-02 of July 9, 2019.
This first report on San Lorenzo covers the period from November 1, 2018 to June 30, 2021.
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See Audit Report M-22-28.
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