| Last Updated: | 1/24/2011 |
| Budget Issue: | Project Resource and Schedule Management (PRSM) system |
| Program: | Department of Transportation |
| Finding or Recommendation: | Approve the Governor's January budget request to extend the time that the Department of Transportation has to expend $8.3 million in funds for implementation of the PRSM system. In addition, we are working with the department to identify the level of savings resulting from a change in the project. We recommend that the Legislature revisit this issue later in the budget process to score the appropriate level of savings from this change. |
The Governor's January budget requests to extend the time that the Department of Transportation (Caltrans) has to expend $8.3 million in funds for implementation of the Project Resource and Schedule Management (PRSM) system. This extension of the liquidation period is related to a delay in the completion of the project.
The project delay is the result of a scope change that will allow the PRSM system to interface with Caltrans' new accounting system, rather than the department's old system, which is no longer in use. This interface was initially proposed as a two-step process. First to integrate PRSM with the old accounting system, then to link PRSM with the new system. Because of previous delays in completion of the PRSM system, it no longer makes sense to first integrate with the old system. This is because the new accounting system was recently completed and is now in use by Caltrans. Because PRSM can now be developed to interface directly with the new accounting system, the extra step of integrating with the old system has been eliminated. Therefore, there should be less work that needs to be performed to make the PRSM system operational and some savings should be achieved.
We are continuing to work with Caltrans to identify the level of savings achieved from this change. In light of these possible savings, we recommend that the Legislature revisit this issue later in the budget process in order to score the savings associated with this request.