New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer issued a directive to standardize oversight of information technology contracts.
The directive, he said Thursday, will "create robust procedures" for verifying the work done by the city's IT consultants before they are paid.
"We've seen how millions of taxpayer dollars have been spent improperly due to lack of oversight and accountability," said Stringer, who took office in January. "This directive will provide structure and accountability to ensure New York City gets what it pays for on its IT contracts."
The directive will require detailed time sheets regarding the type of work completed and where it was performed. Time sheets must be submitted within one month of the work and the city must approve them no more than one month later.
Agencies must verify an individual's qualifications for the rate at which the contractor is billing the city, an employee must certify time sheets are accurate and an independent city employee must review time sheets to ensure they correspond to contract parameters.
Agencies must specify the maximum allowable mark ups for personnel and material costs.
Last month, Stringer rejected a $30 million contract to outsource selection and oversight of all information technology contractors to Computer Aid Inc. of Allentown, Pa. Stringer cited "an unproven service model."
He added: "Information technology contracts have been a recurring issue for the city: ballooning costs and insufficient oversight are a toxic mix for taxpayers."
In the CityTime project, the cost of a payroll-processing modernization project spiked from $63 million to roughly $700 million over a decade, most of it to primary contractor Science Applications International Corp.
In November a federal jury in New York convicted three computer consultants, including Mark Mazer, a former consultant to the city's Office of Payroll Administration, of corruption.
After the CityTime fiasco, municipal finance experts cited the need for more careful vetting of outside vendors.
