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City permitting system upgrade cost rises again
Garrett Andrews//July 26, 2017//
The cost of the long-running effort to streamline and digitize the city’s slow permitting system has again been revised upward.
The latest segment of the Portland Online Permitting System is now expected to cost $1.6 million, or $100,000 more than the previous estimate.
The City Council was updated on this by members of the Technology Oversight Committee on Wednesday at a quarterly check-in hearing.
For years, POPS, formerly known as the Information Technology Advancement Project (ITAP), has experienced cost overruns and missed deadlines. It’s already cost the city $12 million, and two city staffers involved with the project no longer work for the city 鈥� former Bureau of Development Services director Paul Scarlett and former ITAP project manager Rebecca Sponsel.
Last fall, the city severed ties with its first vendor for the project, Sierra Systems.
The project is still considered to be in the 鈥渄iscovery鈥� phase.
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