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

DiNapoli Announces State Contract and Payment Actions for January 2017

February 23, 2017

State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli announced today his office approved 1,399 contracts valued at $2.62 billion and approved nearly 2 million payments worth nearly $9.9 billion in January. His office also rejected 196 contracts and related transactions valued at $1.1 billion and nearly 1,200 payments valued at nearly $14.4 million due to fraud, waste or other improprieties.

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 eight days for contract reviews in January 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.

Major Contracts Approved

Department of Agriculture & Markets

  • $1.4 million to the New York Farm Viability Institute Inc. for the Specialty Crop block grant program.
  • $405,000 with Etix Inc. for e-ticketing services for the New York State Fair.

Office of the Attorney General

  • $378 million lease with Summit Glory LLC for 28 Liberty St., New York City.
  • $1.5 million temporary lease with Hendrick Hudson Building LLC for 200 Broadway, Troy.

Department of Environmental Conservation

  • $3.4 million with Tetra Tech Inc. for whale monitoring in the NYC Bight.
  • $2.3 million to the Open Space Institute Land Trust Inc. for forest land in Brookhaven, Suffolk County.
  • $1.3 million to Suffolk County for groundwater sampling and pesticide reporting.
  • $1 million to Orange County for dam safety.
  • $945,000 to Providence Cascone Family Trust for vacant forest land in Manorville, Suffolk County.
  • $270,000 to East Salmon River Estates LLC for purchase of forest land in Richland, Oswego County.
  • $216,000 to the Finger Lakes Land Trust for purchase of vacant land in Catharine, Schuyler County.

Office of Parks, Recreation & Historic Preservation

  • $31.7 million for 16 Natural Heritage Trust Zoo, Botanical Gardens and Aquarium cultural outreach grants, including $17.8 million to the Wildlife Conservation Society.
  • $4.3 million with the Student Conservation Association for environmental education services.
  • $3.5 million with the Niagara Aquarium Foundation for Aquarium of Niagara participation in the Niagara USA Discovery Pass.
  • $1.7 million to the Scenic Hudson Land Trust Inc. for purchase of vacant land in Highlands, Stony Point, Rockland County.
  • $565,000 to the Green-Wood Cemetery for Hurricane Sandy disaster relief.
  • $500,000 to Zoological Society of Buffalo Inc. for park planning, acquisition and development.

Department of Transportation

  • $24.6 million for three contracts for Mack Truck parts including $12.3 million with Beam Mack Sales and Service, $9.8 million with SBD Holding Co. and $2.5 million with Gabrielli Truck Sales.
  • $10.8 million with Slate Hill Constructors Inc. for I-81 bridge rehabilitation in Salina, Onondaga County.
  • $9.8 million with El Sol Contracting ES II Enterprises JV for bridge steel repairs at various locations in the New York City region.
  • $6.6 million to Nassau County for an Omnibus Dedicated Mass Transportation program.
  • $6.4 million with EMI Guide Rail LLC for Taconic State Parkway signs from Putnam/Westchester line to I-90 Hudson Valley region.
  • $3.7 million to Central New York Regional Transportation Authority for Non-Urbanized Transit Aid.
  • $2.2 million with CIR Electrical Construction Corp. for solar power at designated DOT sites.

Major Payments Approved

Tax Refunds

  • $188.5 million for 19,000 corporate and other refunds.
  • $100.1 million for 25,000 personal income tax refunds.
  • $69.9 million for 208,000 property tax freeze credits.

Dormitory Authority of the State of New York

  • $25 million to Fuller Road Management Corporation for renovation of the Advanced Technology Silicon Carbide Line at the SUNY Polytechnic Institute.

Department of Economic Development

  • $757,000 to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute to support the Center for Automation Technologies and Systems (CAT).

Empire State Development Corporation

  • $25 million to Fort Schuyler Management Corp. for purchase of equipment and planning, design, and engineering for the industrial-scale 3D printing manufacturing facility in Clinton County.
  • $8.7 million to Fort Schuyler Management Corp. for facility and infrastructure build-out at the Marcy Nanocenter in Oneida County.
  • $5.7 million to Economic Development Growth Enterprises Corp. for site development for a semiconductor fabrication plant at the Marcy Nanocenter in Oneida County.
  • $3 million to the SUNY Research Foundation for the cost of equipment, software, and operating expenses to establish the NYS Genome Medicine and Big Data Center in Buffalo, NY.
  • $1.2 million to the New York State Olympic Regional Development Authority for the maintenance of the Olympic and ski facilities.
  • $420,000 to Buffalo Bills Inc. for game day operations for the professional football team.

Gaming Commission

  • $13 million to 26 local governments for tribal compact payments.

Office of General Services

  • $7 million for hourly-based IT services, including $3.1 million to Knowledge Builders Inc., $1.4 million to MVP Consulting Plus Inc., and $824,000 to NTT Data Inc.
  • $3.4 million to the Albany Convention Center Authority for the Albany Capital Center Project.

Department of Health

  • $15.2 million to Maximus Inc. and $4.2 million to Computer Science Corporation for assistance with the state's Health Benefit Exchange.
  • $3.2 million to OPAD Media Solutions LLC for campaigns, including the $1.9 million for the tobacco control awareness campaign.

New York State Legislature – Assembly

  • $49,000 to Toski & Co., CPA's, P.C. to provide professional auditing services.
  • $8,000 to Rossein Associates for outside counsel related to sexual harassment policy development and investigations.
  • $5,000 to Carter Conboy Case Blackmore Maloney & Laird PC to administer the appeals process pursuant to the Assembly policy prohibiting harassment, discrimination, and retaliation.

Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation

  • $863,000 to Massa Construction Inc. to construct lakefront cottages at Samson State Park in Seneca County.

State University of New York

  • $4.1 million to Welliver McGuire to expand and rehabilitate the College of Veterinary Medicine at Cornell University.
  • $701,000 to the Pike Company for the expansion of the SUNY Upstate Medical University clinical cancer center.

Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance

  • $22.7 million in federal Home Energy Assistance Program (HEAP) benefits to assist 35,000 low-income New Yorkers with home heating or heat-related emergencies.

Department of Transportation

  • $6.9 million to Skanska-Kiewit-Ecco III JV to replace the Kosciuszko Bridge in NYC.
  • $395,000 to Skanska Koch Inc. to rehab the Gowanus Expressway from 48th Street to Hugh Carey Tunnel in Kings County.
  • $258,000 to CHA Consulting Inc. for consulting services, including $208,000 for high speed rail design for the double track line from Albany to Schenectady.

Payment Rejections and Other Cost Recoveries

The Comptroller's rejection of nearly 1,200 payments valued at nearly $14.4 million included tax refunds valued at nearly $485,000. DiNapoli's auditors also recovered more than $78,000 from vendors owing debts to the state, and held payments of nearly $696,000 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.