In May, the Office of the State Comptroller approved 1,325 contracts for state agencies and public authorities valued at $1.3 billion and approved nearly 18.9 million payments worth more than $19.1 billion. The office rejected 132 contracts and related transactions valued at $900 million and more than 8,300 payments valued at nearly $26 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, which had suspended the Office of the State Comptroller’s review and approval of contracts related to the COVID-19 crisis, was rescinded effective June 25, 2021. 

Major Contracts Approved

Executive Chamber

• $2.5 million with Morvillo Abramowitz Grand Iason & Anello PC for legal services.

Office of General Services - Design & Construction

• $20.6 million with Streeter Associates Inc. to provide classrooms at Southport Correctional Facility in Chemung County.
• $14.5 million with Jersen Construction Group LLC to rehabilitate a wastewater treatment plant at Eastern Correctional Facility in Ulster County.
• $4 million with Massa Construction Inc. to replace windows at Finger Lakes Residential Center in Tompkins County.
• $1.5 million with Massa Construction Inc. to provide a salt storage building in Onondaga County.

Office of Parks, Recreation & Historic Preservation

• $3 million with Liro Program & Construction Management PE PC for construction management services for Niagara Falls State Park Visitor Center in Niagara County.
• $2.1 million with USA Hoist Company Inc. for elevator repair and maintenance at the Walkway Over the Hudson State Park in Dutchess County.

State University Construction Fund

• $16.8 million with FAHS Construction Group Inc. to rehabilitate Alumni Hall at SUNY Oneonta.
• $4.4 million with Arrow Steel Window Corp. for window replacement at Farmingdale State College.

State University of New York

• $8.6 million with Structural Preservation Systems LLC for garage repairs and maintenance at Stony Brook University.
• $7.3 million with Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings for laboratory services at Upstate Medical University.
• $1.7 million with Sicoli Construction Services Inc. for renovations to Clemens Hall at University at Buffalo.

New York State Thruway Authority

• $47.6 million with Lancaster Development & Tully Construction Company LLC for rehabilitation of the Castleton-On-Hudson Bridge in Albany and Rensselaer counties.
• $19.6 million with Oakgrove Construction Inc. for pavement rehabilitation on I-90 in Chautauqua County.

Department of Transportation

• $32.2 million with Sealand Contractors Corp. for concrete pavement restoration on I-390 in Monroe County.
• $15.2 million with Tully Construction Company Inc. for asphalt pavement preservation on Grand Central Parkway in Queens County.
• $14.5 million with Seneca Stone Corp. for milling on Route 481 in Onondaga and Oswego counties.
• $12.8 million with Peckham Road Corp. for rustic rail replacement and pavement resurfacing on I-87 in Essex and Warren counties.
• $9.9 million with The Grasso Companies LLC for pavement resurfacing on the Taconic State Parkway in Dutchess County.

Major Payments Approved

Tax Refunds and Credits

• $1.7 billion for 1,365,142 personal income tax refunds. 
• $126.6 million for 31,837 corporate and other refunds.
• $1.1 million for 1,518 property tax credits.

Department of Civil Service

• $271.8 million to CVS Caremark to provide pharmacy benefit services for the Empire, Excelsior and Student Employee Health plans.
• $31.7 million to Beacon Health Options Inc. for benefit services for the Mental Health & Substance Abuse Program for the NYS Empire Plan. 

State Education Department

• $3.6 billion in general aid to 490 school districts.
• $293.8 million in BOCES aid to 37 organizations.

Empire State Development Corporation

• $3.8 million to Excell Technology Ventures Inc. to provide financing predominantly for high-tech startup companies in the Finger Lakes Region through the Finger Lakes Venture Fund.
• $2.2 million to the Research Foundation for the State University of New York for construction, renovations, machinery, and equipment to support six flexible hybrid electronics manufacturing research projects in Broome County.
• $1 million to Redburn Real Estate Partners LP for construction and renovation costs for eight leasable, non-residential properties in Albany County. 
• $1 million to the Buffalo and Erie County Industrial Land Development Corp. for infrastructure improvements including the installation of roads and utility corridors to the vacant brownfield land at the former Bethlehem Steel plant in Lackawanna.

Gaming Commission 

• $12.7 million for tribal-state compact payments to Cayuga, Chenango, Cortland, Herkimer, Lewis, Madison, Oneida, Onondaga, Oswego, and Otsego counties.

Office of General Services

• $12.4 million for hourly-based IT services, including $2.2 million to MVP Consulting Plus Inc., $1.9 million to Knowledge Builders Inc., $1.5 million to PSI International Inc. and $6.8 million to 33 other vendors.

Department of Health

• $61.5 million for spending to support the COVID-19 pandemic response, including administrative and clerical services, temporary staffing, medical supplies and materials, nursing services, consulting services and tent rentals. 
• $15.4 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

• $7.2 million for purchases to support the COVID-19 pandemic response, including medical supplies and materials.

Office of Information Technology Services

• $6 million for purchases to support the COVID-19 pandemic response, including cloud computing services, project management services and computers.

Department of Labor

• $4.6 billion for payments under the Unemployment Insurance, Pandemic Unemployment Assistance and Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation programs. 

Office of Mental Health

• $2.6 million for purchases to support the COVID-19 pandemic response, including health management services.

State University of New York

• $7.8 million for purchases to support the COVID-19 pandemic response, including administrative and clerical services and client services.

Department of Transportation    

• $1.1 million to El Sol Contracting ES/II Enterprises JV for bridge repairs on the Gowanus Expressway in Kings County.

Payment Rejections and Cost Recoveries

OSC rejected tax refunds and credits valued at nearly $11.3 million. The Comptroller’s auditors also recovered more than $46,000 from vendors owing debts to the state and held payments of nearly $246,000 pending resolution of disputes between subcontractors and prime contractors.

Cumulatively through May for calendar year 2021, the Comptroller’s office has approved 6,696 contracts valued at $128.2 billion and has approved more than 106.7 million payments worth more than $101.4 billion, including nearly 95.1 million unemployment insurance payments valued at nearly $27.2 billion. The office has rejected 596 contracts and related transactions valued at $1.7 billion and nearly 72,900 payments valued at nearly $126.7 million primarily due to errors, improprieties, or lack of documentation.

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.