August 14, 2014
By Stephanie West
New York, NY — Comptroller Scott M. Stringer has found that the Emergency Communications Transformation Program (ECTP), aimed at upgrading the City’s trouble-plagued 911 response system, was poorly structured, overly reliant on consultants and ineffectively monitored. This led to years of delays and hundreds of millions of dollars in additional costs.
“Instead of strong City governance, the project outsourced critical responsibilities to consultants who were insufficiently accountable to the City,” said Comptroller Stringer. “I commend Mayor de Blasio for initiating this much needed inter-agency review. ECTP has taken far longer than anticipated, stretching from the initial estimate of five years to the current estimate of fifteen years, with the end date now projected to be no sooner than 2018.”
The Comptroller’s Review of the ECTP upgrade shows that in 2004, the ECTP’s estimated capital cost was projected to be $1.345 billion, but by last month, the estimated cost had soared 73 percent — to $2.326 billion.
The capital cost estimates were understated by at least $39 million, which reflects two contracts that do not appear to have been included in prior estimates. The project’s complete cost was not fully disclosed to taxpayers. The cost of the ECTP may now be in excess of $200 million.
