City Contract and Consultant Expenditures

In November 2010, Bruce Johnson, the City's Chief Financial Officer, presented a report to City Council regarding the City's contract and travel and education expenditures. You may view some highlights from that report below or view it in its entirety here. During the FY 2012 Budget process, City staff provided updated information on contract and consultant expenditures to City Council. You can view these and other contract-related memoranda below.

Report Highlights

• The City spent $45.1 million on contractual services in all operating funds in Fiscal Year 2010 (FY 2010). Contractual services is a category of expenditures that generally includes professional services, such as legal, accounting, and medical services; temporary employees; consulting; and outsourcing of services such as construction, health services, landscaping, and computer support.
• Nearly half of the City's contract expenditures provide services directly to the community on behalf of the City government. Expenditures identified as providing a direct service to the community comprised $22.0 million, or 48.7 percent, of the City spending on contractors. These expenditures included street repairs by construction contractors; disposal of residential refuse at the Waste-to-Energy plant; landscaping in public spaces; etc.
• Internal support to the City government comprised $12.5 million, or 27.8 percent, of contractual expenditures. These expenditures included software licenses and maintenance agreements, temporary office support, custodial and security services at City facilities, printing of tax bills and real estate assessment notices, etc.
• During the December 2009 and February 2010 snow emergencies, the City spent $3.8 million, or 8.5 percent of total contract expenditures, on contractors that provided direct services to the community and internal support to the City.
• The City-contributed salary supplement for state employees at the Health Department cost $4.1 million, or 9.0 percent of total expenditures. Even though these expenditures are charged to contractual services, they more accurately reflect compensation.
• The remaining $2.7 million in spending was unclassified as these payments went to the approximately 268 vendors receiving less than $10,000.
• Contract and travel and education expenditures have steadily decreased in recent years. From FY 2007 to FY 2010, City all funds expenditures on contractors have decreased by $9.1 million, or 16.8 percent. When transit services and snow costs are removed, the City's other contractual expenditures decrease by $12.6 million, or 25.5 percent, over the same period. The amount budgeted for FY 2011 is $2.7 million, or 6.0 percent, less than FY 2010 actual services. With transit and snow expenditures removed, the difference is $0.6 million, or 1.7 percent.

Department by Department Contract Expenditure Summaries -- FY 2010

More detailed information on departmental contract expenditures is provided in the attachments to the full report. Click on any department to view budget information for the fiscal year 2011. Budgets for prior fiscal years and FY 2012 are available via the Office of Management and Budget website.

1. The "Other" category includes expenditures from the December 2009 and February 2010 snow emergencies, the Health Department Pay Supplement for State employees, and payments to vendors receiving less than $10,000.
2. Procurement, which was previously a separate department, has been reincorporated into the Finance Department. The FY 2012 Budget and some prior fiscal year budgets include Procurement under Finance.
3. Emergency Communications is a recently created department, so it does not appear in prior year budgets.

Additional Contract-Related Memoranda

FY 2012 Budget Process

• Budget Memo 6: Continuation of Contract Services, Travel and Training Reductions from FY 2011 to FY 2012
• Budget Memo 26: Contractual Services and Consultant Study Expenditures

FY 2011 Budget Process

• Budget Memo 78: Contracting and Consulting Spending