Council to Hire Expert to Study Payroll System

LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles City Council agreed Tuesday to hire an outside management consultant to determine whether a new, costly city payroll system should be scrapped or whether it can be salvaged.

The city has spent $17 million so far on the new system, designed to replace the antiquated payroll that churns out checks for 32,000 city workers. City Controller Rick Tuttle said the system is millions of dollars over budget, a year behind schedule and probably won’t meet the city’s needs.

But Councilwoman Laura Chick, who heads the council’s Governmental Efficiency Committee, said the city needs to have the system evaluated to find out whether taxpayer dollars are being wasted or if the system needs major changes.