By Forum Staff
The majority of the city’s capital projects are over their initial budgets and behind schedule, suggesting better monitoring and reporting could lead to adjustments to improve capital project delivery, according to an analysis released on Friday by State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli.
The city is shifting from publishing the Capital Project Detail Data report to a Capital Projects Dashboard, but both currently have limited project delivery information. DiNapoli’s analysis looked at projects listed in the October 2023 CPDD, which contains project schedules by phase, the initial and current budget, and explanations of any delays for particular projects. This detail is not yet fully reflected in the dashboard. Also, many projects are excluded from the CPDD, and data on budgets and schedules lack certain details that would benefit capital project monitoring.
The CPDD excludes almost half of the projects included in the city’s Capital Commitment Plan, amounting to $73.9 billion, or 47.2 percent of all planned capital commitments. While a substantial portion of this may be for projects that are not yet fully scoped out, there are a number of notable exclusions. City-funded projects undertaken by the School Construction Authority for the NYC Department of Education, as well as loans for housing and certain other projects managed by NYC Housing Preservation and Development, totaling about $38 billion, make up the largest share of excluded projects.
Among the 5,128 projects that were analyzed, DiNapoli’s report found:
- 64 percent were delayed, defined as projects with tasks at least three months past their planned completion date.
- Half, 49.9 percent, were excessively delayed, with tasks three or more years behind their completion date.
- More than 50 percent were over their initial budget, with planned spending now at $54.5 billion more than initially anticipated. Nearly two-fifths of all analyzed projects were more than 20 percent over budget. DiNapoli’s report also found about 27 percent of projects were on budget, and 21 percent were under budget.
Of the nearly three-quarters (73 percent) of delayed projects, more than half were delayed because of budgetary constraints. These constraints are not clearly defined by the city but may be due to a lack of capital funding in the city treasury during the project span or changes to funding commitments. However, because the city does not explain what is causing budgetary constraints and how they are contributing to delays, updates to cost estimates are difficult to predict. It is notable that the analysis period included the onset of the pandemic, where capital projects were halted, which likely contributed to delays.
The report found certain types of projects are more likely to be behind schedule or over budget than others. Courts, waterway bridges, water supply, traffic, highways, public buildings, library, and economic development projects were all likely to start more than two years after the initial project sequencing start. Similar delays existed for NYC Health + Hospitals as well as the police and cultural affairs departments. The movement of start dates directly impacts the cost of projects, as prices of labor and materials generally rise over time.
DiNapoli recommended the city shift all relevant project information to the new dashboard, provide regular updates on the status of its reforms to review the effectiveness of changes implemented for reducing costs or delays, and add flags that allow the public to identify projects which have been able to leverage those reforms.
