Office of the Comptroller report reveals construction work without prior permit in Lajas
The Office of the Comptroller of Puerto Rico issued a qualified opinion on the fiscal operations of the Municipality of Lajas. A qualified opinion is issued when the noncompliances, individually or together, are significant but not pervasive.
The Report reveals that the Municipality carried out construction work and permanent improvements without obtaining the permits required by law. From the examination of five projects contracted for $1,646,346, the permit to build the kiosk at the Sabana Yeguas court was not obtained, and the construction permits for two bridges in the Lajas ward were obtained up to four months after the work had begun. Because of this situation, the Permit Management Office could not exercise its regulatory function, among others.
In fact, for these five projects the budget appropriations were not obligated at the time the contracts were granted, but rather 52 days later. Failing to obligate funds immediately may lead to services being offered without certainty that funds exist in the budget items.
The six-finding audit notes that the mayor had not appointed anyone to the official collector position, which has been vacant since July 1, 2023. The official collector is the officer responsible for the functions of collecting and depositing municipal funds. In addition, final closing reports were identified without the signature of the auxiliary collectors, 33 collection receipts were canceled without indicating the reasons, and we did not find 11 original receipts that had been canceled by the collectors.
The Report indicates that the document administrator did not submit the Document Inventory or Retention Plan for 2022 and 2023 to the General Archive as provided by the current law and regulations. In addition, as of April 15, 2024, the inactive archive did not have sufficient shelving, fire alarm systems, or adequate ventilation (see photos in Appendix 1 of the Report).
The Municipality did not contract, at least 90 days before the close of the fiscal year, the financial audit services for 2021 and 2022. The contracting of these services was carried out with delays of up to 14 months. In addition, the 2021 financial statements were submitted to the Federal Audit Clearinghouse with delays of up to 14 months, after the established date.
The auditors also detected delays in the submission of certifications to the Office of the Comptroller. For example, the Certification of Compliance with the Act on Contractual Standards on Independence in Audits of 2021 was submitted 17 months later than the established date. In addition, the Annual Certification on Compliance with the Act on the Status of Privatizations was submitted 16 months later than the regulatory date.
The General Fund budget of Lajas was $9,313,604, $10,020,793, $10,664,941, and $10,018,956, for fiscal years 2020-21 through 2023-24. The financial statements reflected an accumulated deficit of $1,437,785 for fiscal year 2020-21 and an accumulated surplus of $409,891 in fiscal year 2021-22.
The audit recommends to the director of the Office of Management and Budget that he ensure that the Municipality of Lajas complies with the Corrective Action Plan of the Office of the Comptroller of Puerto Rico.
This first report of Lajas covers the period from January 1, 2021, to December 31, 2023
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The Audit Report OC-25-16 can be obtained on our website: www.ocpr.gov.pr
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