The Office of the Comptroller of Puerto Rico issued a qualified opinion of the fiscal operations of the Company for the Integral Development of the Cantera Peninsula. A qualified opinion is issued when the noncompliance, individually or as a whole, is significant but not pervasive.
The Report reveals that the director of Administration and Finance did not document the review of the Payment Request in 43% of the disbursements examined, nor did she include her initials as evidence of review on the checks corresponding to 96% of the amount paid. From July 1, 2016, to March 31, 2022, the Company for the Integral Development of the Cantera Peninsula made 10,936 disbursements totaling $9,800,585 for professional services, insurance, and federally funded program proposals.
The three-finding audit notes other deficiencies with the disbursements, such as: the absence of certification on the invoices indicating that the services were rendered, failure to ensure that the contractors included a certification of absence of interest, and no withholding at the source on 10% of the disbursements.
These situations do not allow for maintaining adequate control of the payments, foster errors being committed, and result in duplicate, improper, or unwarranted payments being made.
The Report publishes that the Company paid $7,500 in advance to an artist to work on an urban art design as part of the Vuela Alto con Cantera project in 2018. However, as of February 15, 2023, the Administration Regulation lacks provisions for making advance payments.
In fact, the Company did not formalize a written contract with the muralist for the total payment of his professional services for $15,000, because they viewed his work as one of physical structure maintenance. The absence of a written contract does not protect the interests of the Company and contravenes current law and regulation.
The auditors verified that the Company had not prepared the Biennial Action Plan for the period from 2020 to 2022, nor did it provide for examination by the Office of the Comptroller of Puerto Rico a biennial action plan that included the 2017 to 2018 projects, nor the annual progress reports from 2016 to 2022. These deficiencies have the effect that neither the Company nor the community has relevant information about the projects.
The Report recommends that the Secretary of the Treasury evaluate the finding on the failure to withhold tax at the source on disbursements to contractors of professional services.
This report covers the period from July 1, 2016, to June 30, 2022.
The Audit Report OC-24-02 can be found on our website: www.ocpr.gov.pr.
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