City Comptroller John Liu refused yesterday to approve a $286 million contract to complete a 5-year-old upgrade of the 911 system, contending that “some of the issues are similar to problems” encountered in the scandal-ridden CityTime project.
In a letter to Mayor Bloomberg, Liu said he’s concerned that the project’s cost has increased from $380 million in 2005 to $666 million “and counting.”
Liu said the new IT contract with Northrop Grumman to help establish a second 911 center to back up one that began operating at Brooklyn’s MetroTech in May 2009 includes multiple layers of contractors and a time and expense billing arrangement “which does not encourage timely completion.”
But city officials insisted that most of contract is for “fixed-cost deliverables” and that hourly rates apply only to selected portions of the deal.
Last year, Liu blocked additional payments to SAIC, the contractor building the $722 million CityTime computerized payroll system, until it agreed to accept a lump-sum payment upon completion instead of relying on an hourly billing arrangement.
Investigators later charged a handful of CityTime contractors with stealing $80 million over five years, leading to the resignation of Joel Bondy, the city official overseeing the contract.
Liu suggested to Bloomberg that Deputy Mayor Stephen Goldsmith, assigned to undertake a comprehensive review of all the city’s major technology projects, devote extra attention to the 911 contract “to head off even more severe problems.”
“As always, my office is available to assist,” Liu said.
