The firm that won a lucrative 20-year contract to design and maintain the city’s sleek bus-stop shelters and newsstands has burned the Department of Transportation for nearly $12 million, an audit has found.
Comptroller John Liu said Cemusa, which is also responsible for promoting the city in outdoor advertisements abroad, wrongly included foreign-tax charges in its ad work for the city — even though its 2006 contract specifically forbids it.
He said the hidden fees shorted the city out of $11.8 million in promotional advertisements in Italy, Spain and Portugal.
“This company took advantage of the city for years because the agency didn’t have its eyes on the books,” said Liu, who is running for mayor. “New York City is owed nearly $12 million in free advertising space and the agency needs to make sure we get it.”
DOT spokesman Seth Solomonow noted the audit found the firm was meeting all its financial obligations under the contract, which will reap the city more than $1 billion by 2026.
A spokeswoman for Cemusa said the firm disagreed that foreign taxes should be excluded.