The Office of the Comptroller of Puerto Rico issued a qualified opinion on the fiscal operations of the Public Housing Administration of the Department of Housing. A qualified opinion is issued when the instances of non-compliance, individually or in the aggregate, are significant but not pervasive.
The Report reveals that the Public Housing Administration made payments of $140,761 for professional services without a contract between the parties. The services rendered, for training, appraisals, motivational talks, workshops, and entertainment, were carried out through purchase orders from May 18, 2017, to July 21, 2021.
This situation is contrary to Act 237-2004, which provides that all professional services of intellectual, creative, or artistic work, among others, must be obtained through a written and prospective contract.
The one-finding audit notes that the Administration requested a proposal from a single provider for the aquatic clinic services for children and youth of the public housing projects, instead of a competitive process. In this regard, improper payments of $85,150 were made, and other providers were deprived of the possibility of participating in the acquisition processes as provided by the Acquisitions Manual. These payments were made with the operational funds of the US Department of Housing and Urban Development.
The Office of the Comptroller determined that the assistant administrator of the Area of Community and Resident Programs may have incurred a possible violation of Act 1-2012. This official was not in charge of Acquisitions and actively participated in the perfecting of the proposal before submitting it to the Administration. This situation was referred for evaluation to the Office of Government Ethics on May 4, 2023.
From January 1, 2017, to December 31, 2021, the Administration received $1,929,567,862 in federal funds, $1,179,000 in legislative appropriations, and generated $263,601,107 in own revenues for a total of $2,194,347,969. In addition, it made disbursements of $2,070,464,273, for a balance of $123,883,696.
oThe audit recommends to the Secretary of Housing and the president of the Governing Board to comply with the recommendations of the Report and to correct and not repeat the situations commented on in the Finding.
This second report of the Public Housing Administration covers the period from January 1 to July 31, 2021.
Audit Report OC-24-32 can be obtained on our website: www.ocpr.gov.pr.
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