City of New York

Following entry is a record in the “Catalogue of Catastrophe” – a list of failed and troubled projects from around the world.


City of New York – USA
Project : CityTime
Project type : Employee time recording
Date : Dec 2010 Cost :$540M over original budget

Synopsis :
City’s new time recording system for employees goes 10 times over budget and is delivered 6 month late. The 10 year project was originally estimated at $63M but ended up costing in excess of $600m.  Although the system is eventually launched and reaches operational status, investigations reveal suspected fraud.  Several contractors are charged by federal prosecutors.  As a project, Mayor Mike Bloomberg is quoted as having said the project was a “disaster”.

Contributing factors as reported in the press:
Failure to establish and maintain appropriate financial controls result in suspected fraud.

Reference links :

  1. Fraud Charges in New York’s Payroll Overhaul
  2. Company in CityTime Payroll Scandal to Pay $500 Million – Added 14 Mar 2012

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