The Los Angeles Community College District (LACCD) defended its contracting practices in a press release on Thursday, saying that Los Angeles Times article failed to understand standard procedure in publicly-funded projects.

The Times wrote that superflous markups in contracts for jacked up the bill for taxpayers in billions of dollars of agreements. The district denied the report, saying the article had a “sensationalist tone” and that their building process was cost-efficient.

This "multiplier" system employeed by LACCD and LAUSD, among others, in large-scale construction programs starts with the salary that an employee earns and then provides extra compensation to cover overhead and benefits. The deal ensures the construction firm a 10 percent profit. 

The LACCD contends its reviewed the strategy many times and stressed that this is a common practice that does not waste money as the Times article suggests.

“The contracting methods used by the LACCD construction program are standard for these kinds of programs,” Andy Wiktorowicz, P.E., Executive Director of the Western Council of Construction Consumers said on the LACCD’s website. “The idea that one can simply pay someone a salary and have that be the only cost to the Program is naïve and uninformed. I find it more than a little odd that despite more than 20 months of investigation, the Times didn't do any due diligence to understand this.”

The LACCD also pointed out that of the $2.1 billion spent on renovating and modernizing campuses and facilities, roughly $1.1 billion went to small, local, emerging or disabled veteran businesses to provide economic benefits to qualified contractors who often aren’t used in these projects.

“While the Times may not understand our contracting process, our auditors do, and they’ve given us consistently excellent marks in this area,” Daniel J. LaVista, Ph.D., chancellor of the nine‐college LACCD said on the LACCD’s website. “Sadly, this article continues the unfortunate tendency to find fault with a program that is constructing brand new campus facilities and renovating many others to give our students the world class facilities they deserve.”

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