1 Summary

The Financial Services Bureau (DSF according to the Portuguese abbreviation) is seconded by a number of commissions, with annual mandates, for evaluating, setting and reviewing fiscal matters relating to income complementary tax, income tax, motor vehicle tax, property tax and stamp duty. The Commission of Audit (CA) found the annual remunerations due to the members participating in the meetings of these commissions ran up to the millions and have a tendency to rise every year. With reference to 2007, the total remunerations to all these commissions amounted over nine million patacas.

According to collected information, workers of the Public Administration have been nominated to take part simultaneously in various commissions, and one has registered 967 presences in these commissions’ meetings in 2006. Since the participation in the meetings of the commissions is remunerated, that worker was paid a total of 507,675.00 patacas. The presented facts show the management and the arrangement of the commissions’ works are inappropriate and cause risk of public money squandering. Among these commissions, the Commission for Motor Vehicles Evaluation (CAVM according to the Portuguese abbreviation) presented most typical and evident problems so that the Commission of Audit chose it as the object of this performance audit. By looking through the management and running of CAVM, the Commission of Audit expects to identify and examine existing problems and, consequently, able to present opinions and recommendations to better the situation.

1.1 Audit findings and opinions

1.1.1 No reasonable and appropriate motives for the number of meetings and the files organizations

CA perused the minutes of all meetings that took place during 2006, 2007 and 2008, and found that CAVM called 304, 296 and 259 meetings, respectively, which makes an average of over 4 meetings per day, with a maximum of 8 meetings. Knowing that each meetings day lasted around two hours, the number of meetings was clearly excessive and unreasonable.

The situation presented above results from the fact that what is registered in the meeting’s minutes doesn’t reflect what really happened in the meetings. In fact, after each meetings day, all handled cases were grouped according to the type of evaluation they were subjected to and each group constituted the object of a minute; and the quantity of minutes drafted in this way would served as basis for calculating the remuneration being paid to the participating members. CA found that the degree of detailing the objects for minutes drafting reached an arbitrary level: 42.03% of the meetings had only one case to handled and there was even a meeting in which it was deliberated to file two documents which has resulted in two minutes. This handling brought no real improvement in terms of efficiency and efficacy, but greatly inflated the remunerations to be paid and underlined, in a flagrant way, the unreasonability and impropriety of the handling.

The total remunerations paid for the running of CAVM during 2006 to 2008, three years, amounted to 4,288,470.00 patacas. According to the figures in the recommendations presented in the Annex II by the Commission of Audit, if the running of CAVM had followed the law and were reasonable, it would resulted in an economy of around 80% of the effective expenses, i.e., a saving of 3,421,270.00 patacas of public money.

1.1.2 Management attitude to improve job organization and notion of saving public money don’t exist by CAVM

CAVM looked but didn’t see that public money was being squandered and took no measures to improve the situation. To CAVM management attitude towards job organization and the notion of saving public money don’t exist.

1.1.3 Execution failures and no effective control mechanism

Remuneration to members of CAVM for participating in its meetings is legally regulated and the amount due to each meeting is annually determined by the Secretary for Economy and Finance. However, CAVM explored the loopholes of the regime to decompose the matters, deliberated in the meetings in order to be able to elaborate more meetings transcripts, in effect inflating the number of meetings and, consequently, the remunerations to unreasonable proportions. On the other hand, the regime in place lacks effective control over abuses and, also, the persons in charge are not completely aware of the responsibility in them invested nor are they fulfilling their duty wholly.

1.1.4 Effective and substitute members took part in same meetings and receiving both remunerations

CA found that both effective and substitute members took part in same meetings and receiving both remunerations for their presence. According to the Regulation on Motor Vehicles Tax, substitute members may only participate in meetings when their respective effective members cannot attend. CAVM was not able to present any legal basis to justify the participation of substitute members in other circumstances.

1.1.5 Declaration of impediment

CAVM laid down an impediment regime by which a member should declare impediment whenever the meeting’s agenda puts him in a situation of conflict of interests. It was found that some members have not declared impediment in all situations of conflict of interests they were in, which reveals the regime has not been consistently or coherently observed.

1.1.6 Limit of remunerations

CA found that 3 official members of CAVM had also exercised other public functions (with a maximum of 8 functions) during 2006 and 2007. The remuneration earned in result of this accumulation of functions surpassed the upper annual limit laid down in law, ranging the amounts in excess from 2.87% (26,325.00 patacas) to 69.60% (639,450.00 patacas). Article 176, paragraph 4, of the Macau Public Administration Workers Statute imposes that infringements to the provisions of the article result in forcible reimbursement of the amounts unduly received. So, members of the CAVM should review their situation and take rectification actions.

1.1.7 Minutes of the meetings

The numbering of the minutes of CAVM’s meetings has breaks and later additions, there are minutes with signatures missing and others in which the subjects registered as handled diverging from those effectively handled. These situations not only harm the integrity and fidelity of the minutes but also weakened their credibility.

1.1.8 Liquidation and payment

Risks of wrong payments supported by public money, since cases of overpayment as well as underpayment to CAVM members for their participation in meetings were identified.

1.2 Recommendations of the Commission of Audit

1.2.1 Clear norms to regulate the working meetings should be laid down, which should regulate the procedure to organizing e handling the cases in a transparent form and also regulating how the meetings should be convened, namely according to the work necessities.

1.2.2 Workers who are entrusted with the responsibility of management should have their awareness and sense of responsibility enhanced, so that good and proactive internal control effects could surge.

1.2.3 It must be rigorously observed that substitute members may only participate in meetings, and consequently be remunerated, when their respective effective members cannot attend, due to absence or impediment.

1.2.4 Clear instructions should be defined on procedures to follow in case of conflict of interests, in order to guarantee that all members, from the present or future mandates, could observe them, and also securing the stability of the procedures.

1.2.5 The sense of self-control should be promoted among the workers of the Public Administration and also their initiative to inform the competent organs whenever they are in the situation of exceeding the annual remuneration limit and, consequently, to reimburse the unduly received amounts.

1.3 Reply of the Secretary for Economy and Finance

In his reply, the Secretary for Economy and Finance declared that he was very apprehensive with the findings related to the running of the Commission for Motor Vehicles Evaluation as reported by the Commission of Audit. Considering the signs revealed in the report which point the three members from the Public Administration may have committed disciplinary infringements, the Secretary proposed to the Chief Executive to initiate disciplinary procedure against the three workers, to which the Chief Executive agreed.