1. Home
  2. Newsroom
  3. State Contract and Payment Actions in December

Main Banner

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

        

State Contract and Payment Actions in December

February 1, 2021

In December, the Office of the State Comptroller approved 1,471 contracts for state agencies and public authorities valued at $8.6 billion and approved nearly 11.7 million payments worth nearly $14 billion. The Office rejected 137 contracts and related transactions valued at $790 million and more than 5,200 payments valued at more than $38.9 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 Feb. 26, 2021. At the administration's request, OSC has been expediting payments for purchases.

Major Contracts Approved

Department of Civil Service

  • $6 billion for HMO Health Benefits for the New York State Health Insurance Program (NYSHIP) including $1.9 billion with Capital District Physician’s Health Plan Inc., $1.4 billion with HealthNow New York Inc., $1 billion with Independent Health Association Inc., $618.6 million with MVP Health Plan, $532.9 million with Health Insurance Plan of Greater New York, and $592 million with Excellus Health Plan Inc.

Department of Environmental Conservation

  • $16.2 million with the New England Interstate Water Pollution Control Commission for services related to the implementation of the Hudson River Estuary Management Plan.
  • $1.7 million with The Student Conservation Association Inc. for delivery of the Natural Resource Steward Program.

Office of General Services

  • $10 million with Gilbane Building Company for construction management services in the Capital Region.
  • $2.5 million with L.C. Whitford Co. Inc. for a flood control project in Cattaraugus County.
  • $2.2 million with P&K Contracting Inc. to rehabilitate roads and sidewalks at Creedmoor Psychiatric Center in Queens County.
  • $1.6 million with BIDCO Marine Group Inc. for habitat restoration at Spicer Creek Wildlife Management Area in Erie County.

Department of Health

  • $10.4 million for consumer assistance for the aged, blind, and disabled including $5.2 million to Public Health Solutions, $3.4 million to Community Service Society of New York, and $1.8 million to Western New York Independent Living Inc.
  • $4.7 million with Ellicott Group LLC to lease office space in Erie County.

Office of Mental Health

  • $81.6 million with Cerner State and Local Services Inc. for billing system modernization.

Office of Parks, Recreation & Historic Preservation

  • $7.2 million with JR Cruz Corp. for site-wide improvements at Marsha P. Johnson East River State Park in Kings County.
  • $1.1 million with Titan Development Inc. for the Autism Nature Trail at Letchworth State Park in Wyoming County.

State University of New York

  • $14.6 million with Dialysis Clinic Inc. for management of dialysis clinics, and acute and chronic renal disease services at Upstate Medical University.
  • $6.5 million with Teletracking Technologies Inc. for patient flow command center services.
  • $4.2 million with Hogan Lovells US LLP for special counsel for academic, health, and medical centers at Upstate Medical University.
  • $2.9 million with Benchmark Construction Group Inc. for construction of a new UNITI Cultural Center at Stony Brook University.
  • $2.4 million with Siemens Industry Inc. for HVAC preventive maintenance and system maintenance at Upstate Medical University.
  • $2.2 million with Intuitive Surgical Inc. for maintenance services for DaVinci Systems surgical robots at Stony Brook University.

Department of Transportation

  • $12.6 million with Pratt Brothers Inc. for surface treatment at various locations in Nassau and Suffolk counties.
  • $11.8 million with Bette & Cring LLC for bridge replacement on Route 8 in Oneida County.
  • $9.7 million with Villager Construction Inc. for asphalt concrete resurfacing and preventive maintenance on I-490 in Monroe County.
  • $6.3 million with A. Colarusso & Son Inc. for resurfacing Route 52 in Dutchess County.
  • $5.4 million with Nassau Rental & Supply Corp. for regional bridge washing in New York, Kings, Queens, Bronx and Richmond counties.
  • $4.2 million with Rover Contracting Inc. for bridge painting in Columbia, Dutchess, Putnam, Rockland, Ulster and Westchester counties.
  • $3 million with Concrete Applied Technologies Corp. for highway rehabilitation on Route 78 in Erie County.
  • $1.9 million with Bette & Cring LLC for bridge replacement on Route 10A over Caroga Creek in Fulton County.

Major Payments Approved

Tax Refunds and Credits

  • $102 million for 579,663 personal income tax refunds.
  • $86.8 million for 80,614 property tax credits.
  • $82.1 million for 10,427 corporate and other refunds.

Department of Civil Service

  • $269.5 million to CVS Caremark to provide pharmacy benefit services for the Empire, Excelsior and Student Employee Health plans.
  • $27.4 million to Beacon Health Options Inc. for benefit services for the Mental Health & Substance Abuse Program for the NYS Empire Plan.

State Education Department

  • $3.3 billion in general aid to 501 school districts.
  • $2 billion in excess cost aid to 654 school districts.

Empire State Development Corporation

  • $5 million to Erie Canal Harbor Development Corporation for planning, design, inspection, environmental remediation, and construction costs related to the Outer Harbor Access and Activation Civic Plan.
  • $3.8 million to Buffalo Niagara Waterkeeper, Inc. for the planning, design, and marketing of the Buffalo Blueway, a recreational waterfront trail route in Erie County.
  • $2.5 million to Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority (NFTA) to complete the required federal and state environmental reviews and preliminary engineering for the extension of the NFTA-Metro Rail system in Erie County.
  • $2.5 million to Paychex, Inc. for construction and renovation costs of new facilities for business expansion in Monroe County.
  • $1.9 million to the Northeast UAS Airspace Integration Research Alliance, Inc. to design, procure and install a sensor test corridor between Syracuse and Rome for unmanned aircraft.
  • $1.8 million to the Buffalo and Erie County Industrial Land Development Corporation for land acquisition and planning for the redevelopment of the vacant brownfield land at the former Bethlehem Steel plant in Lackawanna.

Gaming Commission

  • $2.5 million for a tribal-state compact payment to the City of Salamanca.

Office of General Services

  • $10 million for hourly-based IT services, including $2.4 million to PSI International Inc., $1.6 million to Knowledge Builders Inc. and $6 million to 31 other vendors.

Department of Health

  • $14.3 million for purchases to support the COVID-19 pandemic response, including medical and dental supplies and materials.
  • $28.2 million to Maximus, Inc. for assistance with the Health Benefit Exchange, including insurance enrollment and call center operations.

Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services

  • $30 million for purchases to support the COVID-19 pandemic response, including medical and laboratory supplies and materials.

Office of Information Technology Services

  • $9.1 million for purchases to support the COVID-19 pandemic response, including software, voice, and data equipment.

Department of Labor

  • $2.8 billion for payments under the Unemployment Insurance, Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation and Lost Wages Assistance programs.

State University of New York

  • $4.8 million for purchases to support the COVID-19 pandemic response, including medical and laboratory supplies and materials.

Department of Transportation

  • $5.7 million to Yonkers Contracting Company, Inc. to reconstruct Exit 131 at the intersection of Routes 17 and 32 in Orange County.
  • $1 million to National Railroad Passenger Corporation (Amtrak) for design and construction of the Hudson Line Positive Train Control System.

Unified Court System

  • $9.5 million to The Legal Aid Society for the Attorneys for Children Program.
  • $1.7 million to The Children’s Law Center for the Law Guardian Legal Aid Program.

Payment Rejections and Other Cost Recoveries

The office rejected tax refunds and credits valued at more than $850,000. The Comptroller’s auditors also recovered more than $28,000 from vendors owing debts to the state, and held payments of nearly $538,000 pending resolution of disputes between subcontractors and prime contractors.

Cumulatively through December for calendar year 2020, the Comptroller’s office has approved 15,111 contracts valued at $227.7 billion and has approved more than 181.1 million payments worth more than $208.5 billion, including more than 159.6 million unemployment insurance payments valued at more than $59.6 billion. The office has rejected 1,322 contracts and related transactions valued at $7.8 billion and more than 133,000 payments valued at more than $452.5 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.