Anchorage

Sullivan administration wants $8.4 million more for troubled software upgrade

Mayor Dan Sullivan's administration is asking for an extra $8.4 million to pay for contract work on Anchorage's SAP information technology project through the end of September.

The request comes on top of the $22.5 million already spent in contracting for the SAP project, a complex overhaul of the city's automated financial system. The project is costing far more and taking longer than city officials originally said it would, and it has been stalled the last two months while experts conducted two evaluations.

With both of the reviews concluding the project was salvageable, the Sullivan administration says it wants to spend the next four months planning and restarting the project before a new mayor takes over in July. The Anchorage Assembly will have to approve the funding request, which the administration says would come in the form of a loan. It would pay for the project through the end of September.

That request does not reflect the city's costs for its own staff, hardware and software time. The total cost of the project so far is about $34.6 million.

Officials have not yet set a date for the project to be finished. Chief fiscal officer Kate Giard said the September funding timeline is meant to give Anchorage's new mayor a chance to become familiar with the project without simultaneously worrying about funding.

Members of the Anchorage Assembly learned of the new set of plans at a work session Friday. Elvi Gray-Jackson, a longtime critic of the project and a main supporter of the recent external review, said she was "not surprised" to see that millions more were needed through September.

Assembly member Patrick Flynn said he had concerns about future funding sources. But he said he agreed with the current funding timeline.

"I think it's fair to give the new administration time to get their arms around it and decide, OK, as it is, keep going ... or stop everything and start over," Flynn said.

Devin Kelly

Devin Kelly was an ADN staff reporter.

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