With overwhelming support, the New York City Council recently passed a bill to increase scrutiny of the City's outsourcing practices. The Outsourcing Accountability Act amends existing law, Local Law 35 of 1994, and requires the City to perform a detailed cost-benefit analysis to document that any prospective outsourcing contract actually saves the city money. The proposed legislation would also require city agencies to look ahead one year and publicly disclose plans for soliciting outside contractors and vendors. The bill now goes to the Mayor’s desk for his signature or veto.

The bill was reportedly prompted, at least in part, by the recent “CityTime scandal.” CityTime, an outsourced re-design of the city's payroll system, was estimated to cost $70 million, but reportedly cost ten times more and became what federal prosecutors alleged was a large-scale fraud that resulted in the indictments of several contractors.

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