March 30, 2011
By Thomas DiNapoli, NYS Comptroller
The City’s decision to reduce its use of consultants makes sense. There’s a time and a place for outsourcing projects, but it seems that time and time again, we’ve seen that using consultants drives the price up and the quality down.”
Government policy should not be driven by the profit margins of a private sector consultant, especially when there are qualified public employees who often can do the job better and cheaper. My office has done a number of studies that have consistently found overuse of consultants for state contracts.
We’ve reduced the use of consultants in the Comptroller’s office, and I’m encouraging other state agencies to review their policies regarding consultants. In-sourcing should be considered before outsourcing.
