The Office of the Comptroller of Puerto Rico issued a qualified opinion on the fiscal operations of the Municipality of Aguada. 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 the selection and recruitment process for the career service, six of the 11 candidates eligible for the human resources analyst position were not interviewed. In addition, the Selection Committee communicated to the then-mayor a single candidate, instead of the five best qualified, for each of the 17 positions opened in the employment announcements published in July 2020. This deficiency caused the mayor not to have all the available alternatives to select the most suitable candidates for the positions.
The two-finding audit points out that as of December 31, 2022, performance evaluations of the employees had not been conducted every 12 months as provided by Ordinance 16 of March 4, 2003. In addition, as of June 30, 2021, the personnel regulations for career and trust employees approved on December 31, 2004, had not been updated. These situations do not allow for adequate administration of personnel and may have adverse consequences for the Municipality.
The Report comments that the former mayor authorized in December 2020 the reinstatement of 12 trust officials to career positions. A consulting firm evaluated the reinstatements in 2021 and concluded that eight of the employees were granted salaries higher than the maximum of the approved scales, three lower salaries, and one the same salary.
To that effect, the mayor notified adjustments to the salaries and the recovery of what was paid in excess. In addition, he terminated one of the employees since her appointment to the career service was illegal.
In accordance with the Municipal Code of Puerto Rico, the Municipality sent a collection notice for $27,650 to the former mayor and to the former directors of Finance and Budget and of Human Resources, alleging joint and several liability and that the debts would be covered from any payment balance the Municipality has with the employees.
In fact, the former mayor sued the Municipality in the United States District Court claiming $18,466 for the global settlement of accumulated leave.
The audit comments that Aguada had to disburse $35,000 without receiving any service as payment for a lawsuit for political discrimination that an employee filed in 2016. As of June 30, 2021, nine civil lawsuits for $5,737,933 were pending resolution in the courts and six cases filed were pending resolution before the Public Service Appellate Commission.
The Report recommends to the executive 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, among others. This second and last report on Aguada covers the period from July 1, 2017 to June 30, 2021.
See Audit Report M-23-04.
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