Briefs

State Comptroller says MTA must improve procurement consolidations, transit agency disputes findings

December 26, 2024 Brooklyn Eagle Staff

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ALBANY — The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) must do more to consolidate its procurements across its agencies to save money, as it was expected to do under its Transformation Plan, according to an audit that State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli released on Thursday, Dec. 26. MTA spends over $7 billion annually on procurement, covering everything from construction contracts to office supplies. The Public Authorities Law required the MTA to create a Transformation Plan by June 30, 2019, one part of which was to consolidate procurement for the MTA’s five operating agencies, MTA Construction & Development, and MTA Headquarters to save money and avoid redundancies. That consolidation of MTA’s Procurement Function took effect October 2021. The audit revealed that savings in Procurement Operations were actually from canceled orders or services; procedures still in force dated back three decades and failed to reflect a new business model; and that the Supply Chain Strategy unit was not able to document $3.75 million in savings it had claimed from consolidating purchases. Rolling Stock Strategy unit reported lacking sufficient staff to achieve its own results.

While DiNapoli’s audit recommended that MTA define the initiatives that are related to its Transformation Plan so that progress on the plan goals can be monitored, the MTA responded that it generally disagreed with the findings, particularly that the agency is not required to define what savings stem from the Transformation Plan.