Nathaniel82A t1_jbofte0 wrote
Reply to comment by calebnf in Cost of 2nd Avenue Subway extension to East Harlem balloons to $7.7B by Grass8989
I mean, I think most of us know why.. but we aren’t prepared to tackle that kind of shit at the moment. Same reason the military budget is so hyper-inflated. Government contracts tend to disperse the money in a “particular way” unlike private sector contracts.
ketzal7 t1_jboun3n wrote
It’s more that the independent contractors and consultants that the MTA hires charge absurd amounts. If the MTA kept on more staff for large projects and did everything in-house you would have lower costs.
MrNewking t1_jbp3dou wrote
Bingo ☝️
It costs less to hire contractors short term then the same cost of hiring and keeping staff.
Long term those contractor cost balloon and an internal team is cheaper, but it's political sucide to pay a higher up front cost so that the next guy in office has it cheaper.
planning_throwaway1 t1_jbxzoa1 wrote
Not to mention the importance of institutional knowledge, and just having the bandwidth to manage projects.
NYC used to have hundreds more planners and engineers on staff. All those jobs and more get outsourced to private consultants at 3x the cost now, while they're managed by an overworked skeleton crew.
Pool_Shark t1_jbp5r1o wrote
But then how would the politicians be able to funnel cash to their friends and relatives!?
CraftsyDad t1_jbqhqns wrote
Nobody in government wants to be seen as increasing the size of government.
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