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Q&A
Challenges with contract registration and payment processes
0:49:54
ยท
124 sec
Commissioner Molly Wasow Park elaborates on specific challenges with contract registration and payment processes. She explains the complexities involved and the steps DSS is taking to address these issues.
- Contract registrations are currently in a relatively good place
- Payment delays are due to various factors, including budget modifications and invoice issues
- The city's migration to the Passport system at the end of the last fiscal year added complexity to the process
- Every contractor started the year with a 'one line budget,' requiring additional work to allocate budgets properly
- DSS is focused on solving these issues and improving the process for the future
Molly Wasow Park
0:49:54
So our registrations contract registrations are in a relatively good place.
0:49:59
Very little of what we're seeing right now has to do with registrations.
0:50:05
With respect to the larger issues that I have talked about, again it's really all over the map because what the provider is experiencing is I am not getting paid, but sometimes it is a mod.
0:50:20
Sometimes it is an invoice issue.
0:50:22
It's very different if a provider is on enhanced review which means we have to do more review of their invoices than when they're not.
0:50:32
One of the challenges for this year in particular, as you know at the end of last fiscal year the city migrated to the Passport system.
0:50:40
I am entirely convinced that Passport will leave us better off having everything in one system over the long run, but it was certainly a challenging process to get there.
0:50:50
Because of the Passport migration, every contractor started the year with what we call a one line budget, meaning you know their budget is $10,000,000 but it's not broken out into all of the things that they actually need to invoice for.
0:51:04
We did that so that we could do advances at the start of the fiscal year.
0:51:07
It made a lot of sense, but it meant that with every single budget we had we had to go back and redo it from a one line budget to an actual allocated budget so it added workload to the process.
0:51:19
So this year has been really challenging and I'm not going to deny that we have real issues to solve, but we are absolutely focused on it.
Diana Ayala
0:51:28
Okay.
0:51:28
I have a whole bunch of questions, but I'm not going to ask them right away because I want to make sure that while we have quorum that we allow members to ask questions, and then I'll come back.
0:51:39
Yes.
0:51:39
I would go to Caban.
0:51:40
Okay.
0:51:41
Councilmember Caban, do you have questions?
Molly Wasow Park
0:51:46
Is she there?
Diana Ayala
0:51:50
Councilmember Caban?
0:51:54
Alright.
0:51:54
While we get to councilmember Caban, councilmember Villas?