Aug. 6, 2007 -- A new county payroll and human resources system that was supposed to cost about $10 million is more than a year behind schedule and already is gobbling up money meant to be used after it is up and running.

The county already has allocated almost $600,000 in funds meant to be used after the system's launch simply to install it. That number is expected to grow.

"The chance of this ever coming in under budget is pretty small," said County Supervisor Lynne DeBruin, who represents the Story Hill area.

The troubled project comes as the county deals with unrelenting financial pressures and blowback from recent revelations in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that some county employees were allowed to purchase, at low cost, employment service time that significantly boosts their pensions.

The HR project is so messed up that the county commissioned two outside reviews -- one by Virchow Krause & Co. and one by SysLogic Inc. -- to help determine where things went off-track.

"The VK and SysLogic assessments have confirmed that the project planning and timelines have been predicated on unrealistic expectations, particularly regarding the availability of internal County resources," county Director of Administrative Services Rob Henken wrote in a June memo to Supervisor James "Luigi" Schmitt, head of the County Board's Personnel Committee.

The assessments "also have pointed to the need to add project management capacity to the project," Henken wrote.

Besides those unrealistic expectations, Henken and Interim Chief Information Officer Mary Reddin wrote in another memo, problems with the new system included "errors in the data that was converted, incomplete testing, partial report specifications, unfinished training and no clear plan for support at implementation...The clear message is that there is much work yet to be done."

"Couldn't we at least do this under budget and on time, so we don't add to our own woes?" DeBruin said in an interview.

The new Ceridian Corp. system was supposed to be "live" in April 2006, but county officials now do not expect it to be fully functional until late this year, according to county documents.

DeBruin

DeBruin, though, is skeptical even that deadline will be met.

"They've reassigned the 'go live' date several times, and they've never met any of them," she said. The fault lies with both Ceridian and County Executive Scott Walker's administration, she said.

Ceridian, to demonstrate its commitment to the project, has cut its consulting charges in half -- to about $50,000 per month. It also essentialy waived charges for April and May, Henken wrote.

DeBruin said part of the problem was that the county employee most involved in the project could not devote the time needed for it to succeed.

"The person's time was so divvied up by the day to day demands of the department, that the manager wasn't devoting enough time to Ceridian," she said.

Ceridian and the county also overlooked the need to install a module that would track retiree health benefits, she said. That module is expected to cost about $518,000, Henken wrote in a July report.

Henken, in his June memo, noted that county employees already were cynical about the project.

"As a former non-DAS department head, I winessed that cynicism first hand," he wrote.

The county has hired Syslogic to assist with the implementation of the system,

"I'm done supporting this project," DeBruin said.

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