The Office of the Comptroller of Puerto Rico issued a qualified opinion on the fiscal operations of the Head Start and Early Head Start programs of the Municipality of Sabana Grande. A qualified opinion is issued when the noncompliances, individually or together, are significant but not pervasive.
On March 1, 2000, the Municipality began operating as a delegate agency of the Head Start Program and grantee of Early Head Start (and a delegate agency as of 2015). It currently has an enrollment of 411 children in the 26 centers located in Cabo Rojo (6), Guánica (4), Lajas (5), and Sabana Grande (11).
The Report reveals that the Municipality did not obtain the permit from the Permit Management Office (OGPe) for the construction of a galvalume roof and other improvements at the La Parguera Head Start center in the Municipality of Lajas. This situation did not allow OGPe to exercise its oversight function prior to the start of the construction.
The three-finding audit notes that the budget appropriations were not obligated for the payment of three contracts and four amendments formalized for the installation of electric generators and the construction of the roof of the La Parguera Head Start. The fact of not obligating the budget items at the time the contracts are granted prevents effective control, and can foster overdrafts and unnecessary litigation.
The auditors identified that four purchases of two vehicles for $56,659 were ordered and paid for, for which the make and model were included in the requisitions, and fifteen tablets for which the make was included. The vehicles were acquired under the administration of the former mayor and the tablets under the former interim mayor. These decisions foster favoritism in the awarding and limit competition.
The Municipality of Sabana Grande did not notify the Office of the Comptroller, as provided by Regulation 41, of the loss of two new tablets with an inventory value of $1,598, and had also not carried out the required administrative investigation. In addition, a tablet valued at $799 was not located in an inspection carried out by the auditors of the Office of the Comptroller in September 2021. These situations deprive the Office of the Comptroller of having the information on the loss that occurred, and also prevent the Municipality from having detailed information to assign responsibilities.
This report on Sabana Grande covers the period from July 1, 2017, to December 31, 2020.
See Audit Report M-22-37.
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