P.R. Laws tit. 21, § 4254
Every municipality shall have an Internal Auditing Administrative Unit. The Internal Auditor shall hold a bachelor’s degree in business administration with a major in accounting, from a higher education institution recognized by the Council on Higher Education, and at least three (3) years of experience, two (2) of those three (3) in auditing, preferably in the governmental sector, which will qualify him/her to perform in the area of accounting in general and in that of auditing, specifically, and shall enjoy good reputation in the community and meet those requirements provided by the trust service position classification plan approved by the legislature.
The Internal Auditor shall be appointed by the mayor and his/her appointment shall be subject to confirmation by the legislature. He/she shall advise on fiscal and operational procedures, the establishing and perfecting of internal controls and the compliance of statutes, ordinances and regulations in general. In addition to any other functions and responsibilities provided in this or any other law, the internal auditor shall have the following functions and responsibilities:
(a) Perform audits and control all municipal public funds operations.
(b) Supervise the acquisition, use and disposal of municipal property with the purpose of verifying and corroborating that it is being done pursuant to the applicable laws, ordinances and resolutions.
(c) Perform audits of the transactions and operations of the municipal administrative units and dependencies, in order to determine if they have performed their activities and operations according to the laws, ordinances, resolutions and regulations in effect.
The audits conducted by any regulating entity or agency shall comply with the provisions established in the highly accepted auditing standards published in the “Yellow Book”, which are developed and published by the Office of the Comptroller of the United States of America for auditing federal funds. If the audits are conducted for regular funds, the Office of the Comptroller or any other regulating agency shall establish and notify the applicable auditing standards to the municipalities. These standards shall be published and the guarantees established in the Yellow Book shall be applied to those who are audited.
(d) Examine all accounts, books, registers, contracts, budgets and any other financial activities and transactions of the administrative units.
(e) Render reports to the mayor at least every three (3) months, on the result of the audits performed, and make any recommendations he/she deems necessary and convenient to ensure that the municipal resources are used for public ends in the most efficient way, and with an optimum yield or profit. He/she shall also comply with the provisions of § 4253(k) of this title.
(f) Advise the mayor and the directors of the administrative units on fiscal and operational procedures, the establishment and improvement of internal controls, and compliance with laws, ordinances, resolutions and regulations in general.
(g) Evaluate and study the recommendations of the Comptroller’s audit reports and any other audit report related to the municipality, and offer advice to the directors of the administrative units regarding the actions that should be taken to handle or apply such recommendations.
(h) Give follow up to the directors of administrative units for them to comply with or implement the recommendations of the Comptroller of Puerto Rico, in the administrative units under their direction or responsibility.
(i) Evaluate from time to time, the computerized accounting systems and the compliance with the internal controls that are established, to determine their effectiveness and ensure the protection of the municipal assets against loss, fraud, or inefficient use or disposal.
(j) Promote the exactness and reliability of the accounting and operational data and judge the efficiency of all the operational units of the municipality.
(k) Perform any other function established by law or which is assigned by the mayor.
The internal auditor, may by him/herself or by expressly delegating to the auditors who work in the Internal Audit Unit, summon any official or employee and any private person to appear and present documents or to make statements related to the operations and matters on which an intervention or audit is being conducted. Likewise, they may, when they deem it necessary, exercise their discretion to take sworn statements related to the operations or matters on which an intervention or audit is being performed, in which case, a register of said sworn statements shall be established, similar in content to the Registry of Affidavits established by §§ 2001 et seq. of Title 4. The sworn statements taken during the course of an intervention or audit shall be of a confidential nature until the internal auditor or the auditors who work in the Internal Audit Unit complete the audit, submit their report to the mayor, and the corresponding corrective actions are taken, as well as the actions in the proper forums. Once the corresponding report is rendered, the corresponding investigations, and the possible judicial actions that could be initiated are submitted, the sworn statements shall have the nature of a public document, as defined in § 4367 of this title. This delegation of power by the Internal Auditor to the auditors who work in the Internal Audit Unit shall be granted in writing and `shall be strictly limited to the specific investigation or audit for which it was authorized in writing.
History —Aug. 30, 1991, No. 81, § 6.004; Oct. 29, 1992, No. 84, § 24; Dec. 17, 1993, No. 130, § 3; Dec. 14, 1994, No. 138, § 2; Dec. 24, 1999, No. 357, § 1; Sept. 7, 2004, No. 258, § 15; Nov. 22, 2009, No. 155, § 1.