Metro

Audit: City schools paid 890% markup for parsley, scallions

Hey, what’s the dill?

The city’s Department of Education paid markups as high as 890 percent last year for school food items like parsley, scallions, radishes and green cabbage, a new audit says.

City Comptroller John Liu found that the city’s failure to renegotiate the cost of products under contract with four vendors when prices fluctuate led it to pay $2.32 for parsley that costs 26 cents and $1.03 for scallions that run 12 cents.

The price markups last April topped 100 percent for 3 out of every 10 items that were checked in the audit.

Auditors also found $410,000 that the DOE should recoup from vendors because of overpayments — but expressed the greatest concern over the fact that the city often relied on vendors to self-certify that products were delivered.

“The DOE paid $113 million for which it got receipts, but never looked inside the bags to see if the groceries were there,” said Comptroller’s Office spokesman Matthew Sweeney.

A DOE spokeswoman said they hadn’t been provided the spreadsheet detailing the cost inflations but that a quick review found a host of inaccuracies.

“Half of the products on the spreadsheet we no longer purchase,” she said.

DOE officials noted that the overpayments were a small percentage of the annual $113 million food budget, but they agreed that some of the findings provided “opportunities to further improve our operations.”

Liu’s auditors responded that the overpayments were identified in just a limited review of the fiscal year 2010 purchases.