Comptroller reveals that the Institute of Statistics has never received a budget for the special fund established by law in 2003.
The Office of the Comptroller of Puerto Rico issued a qualified opinion of the fiscal operations of the Puerto Rico Institute of Statistics. A qualified opinion is issued when the instances of noncompliance, individually or in the aggregate, are significant but not pervasive.
The Report comments that the Legislature has not allocated a budget to the special fund since it was created by Act 209-2003. The act established an initial special fund of $2 million so that the Institute could meet the objective of financing projects for methodological improvements, processes, or statistical products of the government entities. This situation has affected the Institute's resources, since to address relevant projects it uses operating funds.
On the other hand, the two-finding audit reveals that the Institute did not ensure that the invoices of the contractors for professional services included a report of work performed with the breakdown of time invested in each task. From the sample analyzed, 61% of the invoices from 2021 to 2024 did not include the specific information of the hours invested in the services rendered as provided by Act 237-2004.
In addition, the system used by the Institute to maintain disbursement records did not include a unique number for electronic transactions. The transactions examined from 2020 to 2024 contained the fields for type of payment, payment date, name of the beneficiary, bank account used, and the amount paid, but not a number that identified the disbursement. These deficiencies affect the integrity and reduce the reliability of the accounting system.
In August and September 2024, the executive director provided the Office of the Comptroller with two executive memoranda as corrective actions to address these findings.
The Institute's budget comes from the General Fund, federal funds, and its own revenues. During fiscal years 2021-22 through 2023-24, the Institute received $8.8 million and disbursed $5.2 million.
The audit recommends that the presidents of the Senate and the House of Representatives, and the chair and executive director of the Financial Oversight and Management Board for Puerto Rico, evaluate the need for the Institute to have the special fund for statistical projects and that they approve the allocation of funds as established by law.
This report covers the period from May 1, 2021 to July 31, 2024.
Audit Report OC-25-49 can be obtained on our website: www.ocpr.gov.pr.
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