State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli announced today his office approved 1,634 contracts valued at $1.31 billion and approved nearly 2 million payments worth nearly $8.3 billion in August. His office also rejected 177 contracts and related transactions valued at $300 million and nearly 1,400 payments valued at more than $4.1 million due to fraud, waste or other improprieties.

Cumulatively through August for calendar year 2016, DiNapoli’s office has approved 12,998 contracts valued at $34.41 billion and approved more than 22.2 million payments worth more than $89.4 billion. His office has also rejected 1,519 contracts and related transactions valued at $8.18 billion and 32,000 payments valued at more than $66.2 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 August and two days to audit payments.

Every month, DiNapoli releases 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.

Major Contracts Approved

Department of Environmental Conservation

• $11.5 million with the city of Newburgh to purchase drinking water from New York City.
• $2.8 million to the Environmental Protection Agency for remediation of the Hopewell Precision Superfund site in Hopewell Junction. 
• $1.7 million for six water quality grants, including $500,000 to the town of Beekmantown and $500,000 to the village of Port Henry.
• $458,000 for five grants to eradicate invasive species, including $100,000 to the town of Lake Pleasant and $100,000 to the town of Horicon. 

Office of Information Technology Services

• $58.1 million with IBM for an end-user service desk and break/fix service.

Department of State

• $7.5 million for community service block grants, including $1.2 million to Economic Opportunity Program, $1.2 million to Community Action of Orleans & Genesee Inc. and $1.2 million to ProAction of Steuben and Yates, Inc.
• $478,600 for brownfield opportunity grants, including $354,600 to the city of Mount Vernon and $124,000 to Greater Glens Falls LDC.

Thruway Authority

• $11.1 million with Joseph M. Sanzari Inc. for rehabilitation of bridges in Rockland, Ulster, Orange and Westchester counties.
• $6.7 million with Oakgrove Construction Inc. for construction of Interchange 51 in Erie County.
• $1.5 million with Erdman Anthony and Associates Inc. for construction inspection services in the Syracuse area.
• $1.1 million with Prudent Engineering LLP for construction inspection services in the Syracuse area.

Department of Transportation

• $18.3 million with Union Concrete and Construction Corp. for I-990 pavement rehabilitation in Amherst.
• $10.3 million with Oakgrove Construction Inc. for bridge replacement over the Buffalo River in Erie County.
• $8.9 million with CCI Companies Inc. for reconstruction of Route 825 in Oneida County.
• $8 million with Dewberry Engineers Inc. for design services in the NYC region.
• 4.3 million grant to New York City for the Safe Route to Schools program.

Major Payments Approved

Tax Refunds

• $211.8 million for 90,000 personal income tax refunds.
• $172.4 million for 22,000 corporate and other refunds.
• $90,000 for 400 property tax freeze credits.

Dormitory Authority of the State of New York

• $8 million to the Fuller Road Management Corp. for renovation of the Advanced Technology Silicon Carbide Line at the SUNY Polytechnic Institute. 

Empire State Development Corporation 

• $140.5 million to Fort Schuyler Management Corp. for real estate acquisition, planning and design, construction, machinery and equipment at the Riverbend/SolarCity facility in Buffalo.
• $20 million to Fort Schuyler Management Corp. for purchase and installation of advanced technology semiconductor packaging equipment and to construct the Computer Chip Commercialization Center at the SUNY Polytechnic Institute in Oneida.
• $5 million to the Research Foundation for the State University of New York for the acquisition of a Critical Dimension Scanning Electron Microscope at the Albany Nanotech complex.
• $2.6 million to the Buffalo Bills Inc. for game day operations and working capital.
• $750,000 to 43North, LLC for working capital expenditures for the 43North Business Plan Competition sponsored by the Buffalo Billion.

Office of General Services

• $14.7 million for hourly-based IT services, including $3.8 million to IIT Inc., $2.2 million to PSI International Inc., and $1.9 million to NTT Data Inc.
• $3.9 million to Albany Convention Center Authority for the Albany Capital Center Project.
• $1.5 million to Construction Services LLC to construct Department of Transportation Maintenance Sub Headquarters in Westchester County.
• $915,000 to Burgio & Campofelice Inc. to upgrade the windows and heating systems in Attica Correctional Facility.
• $400,000 to CHA Consulting Inc. for consulting services, including $67,000 for geotechnical and structural engineering services.

Department of Health

• $23.6 million to Computer Science Corporation and $16.3 million to Maximus Inc. for assistance with the state’s Health Benefit Exchange.

Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Services

• $110.2 million to New York University to repair and replace infrastructure and equipment damaged at NYU Langone Medical Center during Superstorm Sandy.
• $11.3 million to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey for the Urban Area Security Initiative program.

Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation

• $2.4 million to Weeks Marine Inc. for bulkhead and esplanade reconstruction at Roberto Clemente State Park in Bronx County.
• $649,000 to Yarussi Construction Inc. to reconstruct Terrapin Point at Niagara Falls State Park.
• $544,000 to Scott Lawn Yard Inc. to reconstruct the Cave of Winds Plaza in Niagara Falls State Park.
• $200,000 to Parsons Brinckerhoff Inc. for design services for Allegany, Genesee, and Niagara State Park regions.

Department of State

• $302,000 to The Beacon Institute to support the expansion and completion of Rivers and Estuaries Observatory Network (REON) data center in Potsdam, NY.

State University Construction Fund

• $7.9 million to LP Ciminelli Inc. to construct and renovate the University of Buffalo’s School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences.
• $400,000 to LeChase Construction Services LLC to construct the Advanced Manufacturing Center at Alfred State University in Wellsville, NY.

Department of Transportation

• $12 million to Skanska-Kiewit-Ecco III JV to replace the Kosciuszko Bridge in NYC.
• $2 million to The Pike Co. for design and build services at the Rochester Amtrak train station.
• $648,000 to Parsons Brinckerhoff Inc. for 2016-2017 biennial and interim bridge inspection services.
• $376,000 to The Pike Co. to renovate the bridge over Brown’s Raceway and the Genesee River in t Rochester.
• $211,000 to CHA Consulting Inc. for consulting services, including $110,000 for highway design for the Taconic State Parkway interchange at Pudding Street in Putnam County.

Payment Rejections and Other Cost Recoveries

The Comptroller’s rejection of nearly 1,400 payments valued at more than $4.1 million included 203 tax refunds valued at $422,000. DiNapoli’s auditors also held payments of $438,000 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.