Press Releases

The Office of the Comptroller of Puerto Rico issued a qualified opinion on the fiscal operations of the Municipality of Florida. A qualified opinion is issued when the instances of noncompliance, individually or in the aggregate, are significant but not pervasive.

The Report reveals that, to carry out additional work on the improvement works of the City Hall, the Municipality formalized a contract for $70,732 with a corporation, without obtaining at least three quotes from market providers. In addition, payments of $19,667 were made with copies of original invoices that corresponded to services already paid. This duplication of payments undermines the credibility of the pre-audit process of the disbursements.

The 11-finding audit points out that the Municipality's officials did not ensure that the contractor who rehabilitated 22 homes with funds from the federal Community Development Block Grant program obtained the permits to carry out work on three of the homes. This situation was referred on October 4, 2022, to the Permit Management Office, so that it takes the actions it deems pertinent.

In addition, this work was not supervised and inspected by licensed engineers, so the Municipality did not have the assurance that the work was carried out in accordance with the applicable laws and regulations.

Contrary to the 2016 Municipal Regulation and the 2020 Municipal Code of Puerto Rico, the budgetary allocations of $275,056 were not obligated before formalizing a contract and two amendments to rehabilitate homes and improvements to City Hall, but rather until one year later. In addition, 9% of the vouchers issued related to the payment of per diems to employees, maintenance of green areas and improvements to City Hall were not found for examination, a situation that prevented verification of the correctness and propriety of those disbursements.

The Comptroller's auditors identified multiple deficiencies related to the bank reconciliations. The examination of the reconciliations as of December 31, 2020 revealed uncorrected differences of $4,016,692 in the bank reconciliations of the Current, Payroll and special accounts. In addition, 136 checks for $194,096 pending payment that were already paid or canceled were included in the accounts. In this way, the Municipality cannot maintain reliable information on the financial situation and the results of operations.

Since 1994, the Municipality has maintained 143 accounts receivable totaling $597,725. Of these, 68% were more than five years old without being evaluated and determined to be uncollectible. In addition, there was no evidence of collection efforts in 60% of the taxpayers' files.

The Municipality also maintained 108 special funds with economic resources of $1,588,875 inactive for up to six years. The director and deputy director of Finance could not explain the reason for the inactivity nor the efforts made to reprogram and use the funds.

The Internal Audit Office (OAI) has not had an internal auditor appointed and confirmed by the Municipal Legislature in a permanent capacity since 2017. Although on February 1, 2018, an administrative assistant was designated to exercise the functions on an interim basis, her appointment had not been completed. Because of this situation, the Municipality cannot maintain continuous and effective oversight of its finances and operations.

In addition, for the audited period, the OAI had not conducted audits on purchases and disbursements, collections, municipal accounting, and personnel. The Audit Affairs Commission of the Legislature was inoperative and did not exercise its oversight function by not holding meetings to evaluate the audited financial statements for fiscal years 2018 and 2019, the six OAI reports, and Audit Report M-20-10 of the Office of the Comptroller.

The Report discloses that the position of director of the Department of Transportation and Public Works has been vacant for three years, and the appointment of the director of Federal Programs has not been submitted to the Legislature for evaluation. This official's salary comes from funds of the federal Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program. This situation of improper occupation of the position was referred to the Department of Housing, which administers the CDBG funds, by letter on October 5, 2022, so that it takes the corresponding actions.

The audit detected a lack of controls over the custody and protection of property in Florida. As of June 4, 2021, the Municipality had not conducted investigations of the bulletproof vests, night-vision monoculars, communication radios and patrol radars; 52 units in total not located. 

The Report details that, as of April 13, 2021, the Municipality did not have regulations for contracting the mechanic and repair services of municipal vehicles and heavy equipment, a fact that does not allow uniform processes to be maintained.

The audit comments that the Municipality has had to disburse more than $150,000 in payments for lawsuits to an employee and a municipal police officer. The employee won the lawsuit for political discrimination and was reinstated in her job. The police officer won the lawsuit for alleged violations of the Autonomous Municipalities Act and the Municipal Police Regulation, and was reinstated in his position.

As of December 31, 2020, two civil lawsuits against the Municipality for $2,640,000 were pending resolution by the Court. In addition, $156,349 had not been recovered for various concepts published in the findings of four audit reports of the Office of the Comptroller of Puerto Rico over the last 12 years.

The audit recommends that the Office of Management and Budget ensure that the Municipality complies with the Corrective Action Plan established by the Office of the Comptroller. This Report on Florida covers the period from November 1, 2018 to December 31, 2020.

See Audit Report M-23-23.

To see other published reports, visit our Audit Reports section.