1. Home
  2. Newsroom
  3. DiNapoli Announces State Contract and Payment Actions for October 2016

Main Banner

NEWS from the Office of the New York State Comptroller
Contact: Press Office 518-474-4015

        

DiNapoli Announces State Contract and Payment Actions for October 2016

November 23, 2016

State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli announced today his office approved 1,352 contracts valued at $950 million and approved nearly 2 million payments worth nearly $8 billion in October. His office also rejected 145 contracts and related transactions valued at $390 million and nearly 1,100 payments valued at more than $1.9 million due to fraud, waste or other improprieties.

Cumulatively through October for calendar year 2016, DiNapoli’s office has approved 16,035 contracts valued at more than $38 billion and approved nearly 25.9 million payments worth nearly $109.4 billion. His office has also rejected 1,826 contracts and related transactions valued at $8.9 billion and more than 34,000 payments valued at nearly $72.4 million.

As the state’s chief financial officer, DiNapoli’s office reviews contracts for all state agencies and certain state public authorities and audits all state payments. This independent review ensures that costs are reasonable, the playing field is level and taxpayers get the best value for their money. These independent audits also help ensure payments are free from fraud, waste and improprieties. The Comptroller’s office averaged 10 days for contract reviews in October and two days to audit payments.

DiNapoli releases this monthly notice to provide current information about the number and types of contracts and payments by the state. This builds on his commitment to added transparency via his Open Book New York website.

Highlights for October 2016:

Major Contracts Approved

New York State Assembly
  • $150,000 to extend the contract with Rossein Associates for independent investigations of sexual harassment claims.
  • $57,000 lease with 1010 Suffolk Avenue Corp. for 1010 Suffolk Ave., Brentwood, Suffolk County.
Department of Environmental Conservation – Oil Spill Fund
  • $167 million for 10 standby investigation and remediation contracts including $40 million to Long Island Environmental Assessment Inc. and $30 million to Groundwater and Environmental Services.
Department of Financial Services 
  • $900,000 with Deloitte Consulting LLP for paid family leave actuarial services.
  • $300,000 with New York State Industries for the Disabled for temporary office services.
Department of Health
  • $77.1 million for five Essential Healthcare Provider Transformation grants including $21.5 million to the Aurelia Osborn Fox Memorial Hospital Society and $20 million to Wyoming County Community Hospital to facilitate consolidation of services.
  • $8.2 million with Island Peer Review Organization, Inc. for program performance monitoring and quality improvement in maternal and child health programs.
  • $2.1 million to Finger Lakes Health Systems Agency for the regional Population Health Improvement Program.
  • $1.4 million for lead poisoning prevention grants, including $1.1 million to Oneida County and $333,000 to Schenectady County.
Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Services
  • $4.5 million for security grants to 60 New York not for profits to assist with anti-terrorism projects.
  • $3.8 million to American Red Cross for emergency response preparedness.
  • $1.8 million with Northeastern Industrial Park, Inc. for lease of space.
Office of the State Comptroller
  • $250,000 with Law Office of Meredith H. Savitt PC for outside counsel for litigation.
  • $200,000 with IIT, Inc. for senior IT architect consulting services for the Unclaimed Funds Online Claiming System.
  • $146,000 with American Technical Services Inc. for a system analyst for the Public Authorities Reporting Information System conversion.
State Insurance Fund
  • $25.6 million with Gilbert International Inc. for building maintenance and management services.
  • $3 million with Towers Watson Delaware Inc. for actuarial consulting services.
New York State Senate
  • $1.3 million with Key Government Finance to purchase computer equipment.
  • $500,000 with Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson LLP for counsel to the Task Force on Demographic Research and Reapportionment.
  • $121,000 for two contracts with Kraus & Zuchlewski LLP for legal counsel related to U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission matters and investigation of sexual harassment claims.
Office of Mental Health
  • $1.7 million to CR Fletcher Temps for temporary staffing services at Hutchings Psychiatric Center.
  • $281,000 to Independent Living, Inc. and $123,000 to Rockland Independent Living Center Inc. for peer support services at Rockland Psychiatric Center.
Office for People with Developmental Disabilities 
  • $1.4 million for hospital sitter services at Central NY DDSO, including $336,000 to Total Healthcare Staffing of LI Inc. and $282,000 to All Metro Health Care.
Thruway Authority
  • $65 million increase to the Tappan Zee Constructors LLC contract for the New NY Bridge including dispute resolution, increased efficiencies and winter work.

Major Payments Approved

Tax Refunds
  • $676.7 million for 168,000 personal income tax refunds.
  • $63 million for 165,000 property tax freeze credits.
  • $50.9 million for 16,000 corporate and other refunds.
Empire State Development Corporation
  • $1.6 million to the Olympic Regional Development Authority for maintenance of Olympic facilities.
  • $919,000 to the Genesee County Economic Development Center for the Western NY Science, Technology and Advanced Manufacturing Park (STAMP) project.
  • $893,000 to the Buffalo Bills Inc. for game day expenses at Ralph Wilson Stadium.
  • $695,000 to the city of Glen Cove to construct a new ferry terminal building at Glen Cove Creek in Nassau County.
  • $601,000 to the Buffalo Urban Development Corporation for the acquisition of under-used vacant properties, including environmental assessment and engineering costs.
Office of General Services
  • $11.5 million for hourly-based IT services, including $3.1 million to Knowledge Builders Inc., $2.5 million to PSI International Inc., and $1.4 million to MVP Consulting Plus Inc.
  • $4.5 million to the Albany Convention Center Authority for the Albany Capital Center Project.
  • $1.4 million to The Wesson Group LLC to expand Midway and RV Sites at the State Fair in Syracuse.
  • $270,000 to Welliver McGuire Inc. to rehabilitate the front entrance at the State Fair in Syracuse.
Department of Health
  • $37.7 million to Maximus Inc. and $9.8 million to Computer Science Corporation for assistance with the state’s Health Benefit Exchange.
Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services
  • $1.2 million to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey for the Urban Area Security Initiative.
State University Construction Fund
  • $6.8 million to LP Ciminelli Inc. for construction of SUNY Buffalo’s School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences.
State University of New York
  • $2.4 million to Welliver McGuire Inc. to expand and rehabilitate the College of Veterinary Medicine at Cornell University.
Department of Transportation
  • $660,000 to The Pike Co. for design and construction services at the Rochester Amtrak Train Station.

Payment Rejections and Other Cost Recoveries

The Comptroller’s rejection of nearly 1,100 payments valued at more than $1.9 million included 108 tax refunds valued at nearly $345,000. DiNapoli’s auditors also recovered nearly $70,000 from vendors owing debts to the state, and held payments of nearly $104,000 pending resolution of disputes between subcontractors and prime contractors.

For access to state and local government spending, public authority financial data and information on 50,000 state contracts, visit Open Book New York. The easy-to-use website was created to promote transparency in government and provide taxpayers with better access to financial data.