Payments in excess of what is allowed by law in productivity bonuses in San Lorenzo
The Office of the Comptroller of Puerto Rico issued a qualified opinion on the fiscal operations of the Municipality of San Lorenzo. A qualified opinion is issued when the instances of noncompliance, individually or in the aggregate, are significant but not pervasive.
The Report reveals that the Municipality paid $98,577 in productivity bonuses in excess of what is allowed by law. The payment of these bonuses to 27 employees and officials in 2020 exceeded 20% of their biweekly salaries.
The payments were made through disbursement vouchers and not through the payroll process. In this regard, the audit recommends that the director of the Federal Internal Revenue Service and the Secretary of the Treasury evaluate this situation, which may have caused these entities not to receive the full amount of the corresponding taxes.
The two-finding audit also notes that the Municipality paid 10 days in excess of the 90 days allowed by law for the liquidation of sick leave to an employee who resigned in 2018. This caused an improper payment of $1,109.
In both situations, the Report recommends that the mayor recover the improper payments totaling $99,686. In addition, the mayor must determine the responsibility, if any, of the officials who participated in the approval of the productivity bonuses.
San Lorenzo's budget was $14,000,000 in 2019, $14,671,829 in 2020, $13,757,092 in 2021, and $13,853,833 in 2022. The Municipality's audited financial statements reflected accumulated operational deficits of $72,398 in 2019 and $257,514 in 2020.
The Report recommends that the director of the Office of Management and Budget ensure that the Municipality of San Lorenzo complies with the Corrective Action Plan established by the Office of the Comptroller of Puerto Rico. This third and final report on San Lorenzo covers the period from November 1, 2018 to December 31, 2021.
Audit Report OC-24-54 is available on our website: www.ocpr.gov.pr.
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