The cost of San Diego's switch from an in-house project tracking system to the popular Accela tracking software has sharply spiked since the City Council approved the upgrade in September 2015, Interim City Auditor Kyle Elser says.
And the completion of the upgrade, which had initially been scheduled for May 2017, has been delayed nearly three years until February 2020.
The estimated cost, which was $10.9 million when the council approved the plan, has steadily climbed to $17.7 million and could climb even higher before the upgrade is complete, the 41-page audit says.
The goal of the switch is to streamline project approvals and to make San Diego more business-friendly.
The audit says managers in the Development Services Department elected to bypass "fundamental steps" early in the implementation in order to accelerate the process and save $1.3 million.
But the audit says that turned out to be a mistake because the eliminated steps sought to reduce reliance on institutional knowledge and facilitate transparency of the process.
Because those steps were skipped, the city suffered a significant setback when a key city official abruptly retired in April 2017 during the process of implementing the upgrade, the audit says.
Jonathan Behnke, the city's chief information officer, told the City Council's Audit Committee on Wednesday that greater oversight procedures have been implemented since the management mistakes connected to the Accela upgrade.
"It's very difficult to fly under the radar right now," he said. "There's a lot of oversight and project tracking."
Councilman Scott Sherman said that while the delays and cost overruns are frustrating, he is optimistic.
"I think we're seeing that the city is learning from their mistakes and fixing the problems," Sherman told his colleagues in the committee. "Now it seems like there's an actual concerted effort."
Sherman also praised Elyse Lowe, who took over the Development Services Department in July, for fewer cost overruns and more transparency with the city's elected leaders.
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