Committee on Contracts Hearing on PASSPort and Small Capital Projects - October 29, 2026

The New York City Council Committee on Contracts, chaired by Councilmember Lincoln Restler, held a hearing on Thursday, October 29, 2026, at 2:00 PM. The meeting focused on oversight of the city's procurement system, PASSPort, and considered three pieces of legislation and a resolution related to small capital projects. Testifying were Department of Design and Construction (DDC) Commissioner Paul Ochoa and Mayor's Office of Contract Services Director Kim Yu.

Public Comments & Testimony

• Charles Diamond testified that the city is spending too little on maintaining the PASSPort system given it processes an estimated $40 billion in transactions annually. He urged the council to push the administration to invest more in procurement staffing and system management. He expressed strong support for Ballot Question 2 regarding procurement reforms.
• Jesse Faye Parrott, Policy Analyst for the Human Services Council (representing over 180 human services providers), testified that PASSPort is inaccessible and inefficient. She stated that the system often creates cash flow crises for non-profits, specifically noting that submitting a budget modification blocks the submission of invoices. She voiced cautious optimism about the upcoming Release 7 but emphasized the need for deeper policy changes.

Discussion Items

PASSPort Oversight (T2026-2682) Director Kim Yu provided a detailed update on PASSPort. As of October 23, 2026, the system had over 87,000 active users. The Mayor's Office of Contract Services (MOCS) reported reducing the average service desk resolution time from 21 days in 2025 to 8 days in 2026, handling over 16,000 requests this year. The total investment in PASSPort to date is $151.4 million, with annual costs for software licensing and systems integration around $10 million. The upcoming Release 7, costing $6.5 million and slated for early 2027, is designed to allow invoice submissions to proceed concurrently with budget modifications. MOCS acknowledged significant user experience issues, including reports from vendors that submitting a single invoice can take half a day due to a lack of bulk upload and poor interface design. Chair Restler raised questions about the limited role of the Office of Technology and Innovation in managing this critical system and the difficulty in generating custom reports from the platform. Councilmembers Hanks, Stevens, and Brewer questioned MOCS on how it collects feedback from smaller non-profits, system usability for human service providers, and the status of the payment backlog.

Standard Designs, Timeframes, and Cost Benchmarks (Ints 0991, 1064, 1065) Councilmember Carl Wilson introduced three bills aimed at improving small capital project delivery. Int 0991 required a catalog of standard designs for small recurring capital projects, Int 1064 required timeframes for agency approvals and change orders on projects $10 million and under, and Int 1065 required cost benchmarks for small capital structures. Commissioner Ochoa expressed strong reservations about all three bills. He argued that every project and change order is unique due to site conditions, agency requirements, and market volatility, making rigid timeframes and standard designs impractical. To illustrate, he used the example of a $3.6 million bathroom in a Queens park, explaining the cost was driven by the need to build a half-mile of deep sewer and electrical infrastructure, not the structure itself. He stated DDC prefers design guidelines over standard designs and that market conditions, rather than pre-set benchmarks, dictate final costs. He noted that change orders are often delayed by disagreements over scope with contractors, rather than the city's internal review process.

Resolution on Alternative Delivery (Res 0619-2026) Commissioner Ochoa strongly supported the resolution calling on the New York State Legislature to amend the NYC Public Works Investment Act. He advocated for a long-term or permanent extension of the city's authority to use Design-Build and CM Build methods, which are set to expire on December 31, 2027. He argued these methods deliver better value than the traditional lowest-bidder approach.

Key Outcomes

• Hearings Held and Laid Over: The oversight item (T2026-2682) was held and filed. All four pieces of legislation (Int 0991, 1064, 1065, and Res 0619) had hearings held and were laid over by the committee for future action. No final votes were recorded.
• Fundamental Disagreement on Capital Bills: A clear policy divide emerged between Councilmember Wilson's push for standardization and predictability in capital projects and DDC's position that construction is inherently site-specific and volatile, making rigid rules counterproductive. DDC did not support the bills in their current form.
• PASSPort Strategic Pivot: MOCS confirmed it is nearing a critical decision point. Following the Release 7 upgrade, the agency plans to pause and evaluate whether to continue adding functions to PASSPort or to simplify it by removing functions ("addition by subtraction").
• Contract Renewal Looming: The core contracts for PASSPort (Ivalua and Accenture) expire in April 2027. MOCS plans to pursue a negotiated acquisition, providing a major opportunity to re-evaluate the city's procurement technology strategy.
• Albany Advocacy: The committee advanced a resolution urging the state to expand the city's use of alternative project delivery methods, a key infrastructure priority for the administration.