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

        

State Contract and Payment Actions in August

October 2, 2020

In August, the Office of the State Comptroller approved 1,149 contracts for state agencies and public authorities valued at $56.4 billion and approved more than 16.6 million payments worth more than $12.3 billion. The office rejected 120 contracts and related transactions valued at $160 million and nearly 19,100 payments valued at nearly $17.6 million, primarily for mistakes, insufficient support for charges, and improper payments. More information on these contracts and payments is available at www.openbooknewyork.com.

The Governor’s Executive Order 202 suspended the Office of the State Comptroller’s review and approval of contracts related to the COVID-19 crisis until Oct. 4, 2020. At the administration's request, OSC has been expediting payments for purchases. These payments are reported on Open Book.

Major Contracts Approved

Office of Children & Family Services

  • $4.5 million with HF Acquisition Co. LLC Health First for epinephrine auto-injectors for daycare children.

State Education Department

  • $3.9 million for Commercial Driver License training schools, including $3.2 million to Ferrari Driving Schools Inc., $336,000 to Professional Driver Institute Inc., $251,000 to The Sage Corporation, and $141,000 to Dutchess School of Driving Inc.

Office of General Services - Design & Construction

  • $17 million with W M Schultz Construction Inc. for construction of a new wastewater treatment plant at Green Haven Correctional Facility in Dutchess County.
  • $6.7 million with Hoosick Valley Contractors Inc. for new classrooms and office space at Greene Correctional Facility in Greene County.
  • $4.2 million with Con-Tech Building Systems Inc. for maintenance of Department of Transportation sub headquarters and salt storage structure in St. Lawrence County.
  • $3.7 million with Massa Construction Inc. for new classrooms and office space at Fishkill Correctional Facility in Dutchess County.

Department of Health

  • $55.1 billion for Medicaid managed care plans, including $37.7 billion with Healthfirst PHSP Inc., $7.9 billion with Affinity Health Plan, $3.2 billion with Wellcare of New York Inc., $2.5 billion with Amida Care Inc., $2.3 billion with Independent Health Association Inc., $1.4 billion with Healthnow New York Inc. and $101.6 million with Partners Health Plan Inc.

Department of Motor Vehicles

  • $10.1 million with One Larkin LLC to lease office space in Westchester County.

Office of Parks, Recreation & Historic Preservation

  • $1.9 million with J. Pizzirusso Landscaping Corp. for shoreline reconstruction at Gantry Plaza State Park in Queens County.
  • $1.6 million with George E. Ley Company to replace irrigation system at Soaring Eagles Golf Course in Mark Twain State Park in Chemung County.

State University Construction Fund

  • $13.4 million with FAHS Construction Group Inc. for renovations to the science building at Binghamton University.

State University of New York

  • $37 million with Lechase Construction services LLC for baseball clubhouse and stadium enhancements at Binghamton University.
  • $10.2 million with BFSS LLC to lease a parking lot on Corliss Avenue in Johnson City at Binghamton University.
  • $4.9 million with Ferguson Electric Service Company Incorporated for maintenance and emergency repairs of high voltage electrical equipment at Buffalo University.
  • $2.7 million with North Fork Express Inc. for bus transportation services at Stony Brook University.

Department of Transportation

  • $19.1 million with Tartaglia Railroad Services Inc. for restoration of approximately 85 miles of Adirondack Railroad in Franklin, Hamilton, Herkimer, Oneida and St Lawrence counties.
  • $18.1 million to Ogdensburg Bridge and Port Authority for bridge painting and rehabilitation in St. Lawrence County.
  • $11.8 million with Michels Corp. for replacement and rehabilitation of bridges on I-84 in Orange County.
  • $5 million with Extreme Sandblasting and Painting Inc. for preservation of the Thaddeus Kosciusko (Twin) Bridges on I-87 in Albany and Saratoga Counties.
  • $4.4 million with WSP USA Services Inc. for electronic traffic and management of the Transportation Management Center in the Capital Region.
  • $4.1 million with Livingston County for snow and ice removal in Livingston County.

Major Payments Approved

Tax Refunds

  • $318.4 million for 198,000 personal income tax refunds.
  • $102.9 million for 17,000 corporate and other refunds.
  • $53.2 million for 82,000 property tax credits.

Department of Civil Service

  • $261.2 million to CVS Caremark to provide pharmacy benefit services for the Empire, Excelsior and Student Employee Health plans.
  • $24.5 million to Beacon Health Options Inc. for benefit services for the Mental Health & Substance Abuse Program for the NYS Empire Plan.

Department of Corrections and Community Supervision

  • $1.6 million for purchases to support the COVID-19 pandemic response.

Department of Education

  • $700.4 million in excess cost aid to 671 school districts.
  • $521 million in BOCES aid payments to 30 organizations.
  • $10.2 million in general aid payments to 75 school districts.

Empire State Development Corporation

  • $4 million to the Utica Harbor Point Development Corp. for construction and renovation of the Utica Harbor Point bulkheads.
  • $1.9 million to the Housing Trust Fund Corp. to administer the Better Buffalo Fund’s Main Streets Initiative.

Gaming Commission

  • $18.3 million for tribal compact payments to Cayuga, Chenango, Cortland, Herkimer, Lewis, Madison, Niagara, Oneida, Onondaga, Oswego and Otsego counties.

Office of General Services

  • $11.4 million for hourly-based IT services, including $2.2 million to PSI International Inc., $1.5 million to Knowledge Builders Inc. and $7.7 million to 30 other vendors.

Department of Health

  • $66.7 million for purchases to support the COVID-19 pandemic response.
  • $27.7 million to New York eHealth Collaborative Inc. for the Statewide Health Information Network for New York.
  • $19 million to Maximus Inc. for assistance with the Health Benefit Exchange, including insurance enrollment and call center operations.

Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Services

  • $16 million for purchases to support the COVID-19 pandemic response.

Office of Information Technology Services

  • $1.8 million for purchases to support the COVID-19 pandemic response.

Department of Labor

  • $4.9 billion for Unemployment Insurance, Pandemic Unemployment Assistance and Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation claims.

Office of Mental Health

  • $2.5 million for purchases to support the COVID-19 pandemic response.

State University of New York

  • $6.6 million for purchases to support the COVID-19 pandemic response.

Department of Transportation

  • $9.1 million to Granite Construction Northeast Inc. for replacement of the Kosciuszko Bridge in Kings County.
  • $2 million to Yonkers Contracting Company Inc. to reconstruct Exit 131 at the intersection of Routes 17 and 32 in Orange County.
  • $1.4 million to National Railroad Passenger Corporation (Amtrak) for design and construction of the Hudson Line Positive Train Control System.

Unified Court System

  • $1.5 million to The Children’s Law Center for the Law Guardian Legal Aid Program.
  • $1.3 million for purchases to support the COVID-19 pandemic response.

Payment Rejections and Other Cost Recoveries

The office rejected more than 19,000 payments valued at nearly $17.6 million, including tax refunds and credits valued at nearly $2.8 million. The Comptroller’s auditors also recovered more than $23,000 from vendors owing debts to the state, and held payments of more than $62,000 pending resolution of disputes between subcontractors and prime contractors.

Cumulatively through August, for calendar year 2020, the Comptroller’s office has approved 9,602 contracts valued at $100 billion and has approved more than 117.6 million payments worth nearly $144.6 billion, including more than 102 million unemployment insurance payments valued at nearly $42.7 billion. The office has rejected 873 contracts and related transactions valued at $3.6 billion and nearly 105,000 payments valued at more than $312.4 million primarily for mistakes, insufficient support for charges, and improper payments.

Find out how your government money is spent at Open Book New York. Track municipal spending, the state's 180,000 contracts, billions in state payments and public authority data. Visit the Reading Room for contract FOIL requests, bid protest decisions and commonly requested data, including Legislative travel and per diem expenses.