The Comptroller reveals that the DTOP has overdue receivables amounting to $6.1 million
The Office of the Comptroller of Puerto Rico (OCPR) issued a qualified opinion on the fiscal operations of the Central Management and Administration of the Department of Transportation and Public Works (DTOP). A qualified opinion is issued when the noncompliances, individually or together, are significant but not pervasive.
The Report reveals that DTOP had not carried out affirmative collection efforts on 6,678 accounts registered for more than $6.1 million as of October 1, 2023. These debts for leasing, annual fees, improper salary payments, fines, expense reimbursements and others, were between 43 and 5,551 days overdue from when the first collection effort was made.
Not having these resources prevents operational expenses from being addressed. The accumulation of old debts also makes their collection difficult and, over time, they become uncollectible.
The two-finding audit notes multiple deficiencies with the collection efforts of improper salary payments of 25 accounts for $161,386. For example, a confidential employee who resigned in 2022 had not been deducted $10,149 for a bonus not approved by the Office of Management and Budget; two debtors of $18,312 were not deducted those amounts from their salary while they were still DTOP employees; and 17 accounts for $110,775 had no documentary evidence of collection efforts or referrals for collection to the Department of Justice.
In addition, the DTOP did not carry out collection efforts of $216,275 from four tenants who have occupied properties since 2017 in Toa Baja, San Juan and Cataño. Nor did the DTOP exercise its authority to cancel the occupancy permit after three months without payment, as provided in the lease contract.
On the other hand, the DTOP has not established a uniform electronic registry for its accounts receivable. The Microsoft Excel registry, designed in 2015 to mechanize the process, has 41,829 fields without the required information such as the debtor's name and address, amount or concept of the invoice. In addition, the OCPR auditors identified 722 unique collection receipt numbers that were duplicated, with different names and amounts.
This situation affects data integrity and prevents effective collection efforts from being made.
The DTOP had a budget of $1,200 million from 2021 to 2025. The budget comes from federal funds, special appropriations and the general budget.
The Report recommends that the Secretary of Transportation and Public Works evaluate the staffing needs in the Billing Unit of the Office of Budget and Finance, carry out the collection efforts, and address the requirements of the Department of Justice in this regard.
This second and final report on the DTOP covers the period from July 1, 2020 to October 31, 2024.
Audit Report OC-26-01 is available on our website: www.ocpr.gov.pr.
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