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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 July

August 31, 2021

In July, the Office of the State Comptroller approved 1,440 contracts for state agencies and public authorities valued at $11.1 billion and approved nearly 16.6 million payments worth nearly $13.7 billion. The office rejected 144 contracts and related transactions valued at $242.9 million and more than 5,800 payments valued at more than $25.2 million, primarily for mistakes, insufficient support for charges, and improper payments. More information on these contracts and payments is available at Open Book New York.

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suspended the Office of the State Comptroller’s review and approval of contracts related to the COVID-19 crisis, was rescinded effective June 25, 2021. The Governor’s Executive Order 211, issued on July 6, 2021, declared a disaster emergency due to gun violence and suspended the Comptroller’s approval role under State Finance Law § 112 with respect to “contracts, leases, licenses, permits or any other written agreements that may be entered into for purposes of mitigating [the] disaster emergency,” among other things.

Major Contracts Approved

Office of the Attorney General

  • $2.6 million with Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP for legal services.
  • $950,000 with Vladeck Raskin & Clark PC for legal services.

Department of Environmental Conservation

  • $5.2 million with Mark Cerrone Inc. for sewer relocation at Old Upper Mountain Road in Niagara County.
  • $1.1 million with Economy Paving Co. for a new observation platform at Carpenter Falls Unique Area in Cayuga County.

Executive Chamber

  • $2.5 million with Walden Macht & Haran LLP for legal services.

Office of General Services - Design & Construction

  • $1.7 million with All-Con Contracting Corp. to provide lobby and security office renovations at Creedmoor Psychiatric Center in Queens County.
  • $1.6 million with Wilkins Mechanical Inc. to upgrade controls and heating system at Taberg Residential Center for Girls in Oneida County.

Department of Health

  • $1.5 million with Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson LLP for legal services.

Office of Parks, Recreation & Historic Preservation

  • $3.3 million with A. Collaruso & Son Inc. for Hudson Eagles boat launch rehabilitation in Greene County.
  • $1.4 million with Tahawus Trails LLC to rehabilitate the gorge access trail stairway at Whirlpool State Park in Niagara County.

State University Construction Fund

  • $31.7 million with Jemco Electrical Contractors for electrical system upgrades at Downstate Health Sciences University.
  • $26.3 million with Niram Inc. to rehabilitate the Javits Lecture Center at Stony Brook University.
  • $23.8 million with LeChase Construction Services LLC to renovate Farnsworth Hall at SUNY Delhi.
  • $9.7 million with Gryphon Construction Inc. to renovate Vander Clute Hall at SUNY Maritime.
  • $5.7 million with Scott Lawn Yard Inc. for reconstruction of New Campus Drive and Cooper Hall drop-off area at SUNY Brockport.

State University of New York

  • $23.4 million with Schindler Elevator Corp. for elevator and escalator preventative maintenance and repair at Stony Brook University.
  • $8.4 million with University Dental Practice Services Inc. for dental and administrative services at University at Buffalo.
  • $6.3 million with Villager Construction Inc. for athletic field alterations at SUNY Brockport.
  • $4 million with Philips North America LLC for support and maintenance of ultrasound and diagnostic imaging equipment at Stony Brook University.
  • $1.4 million with Niagara Scenic Tours Inc. for bus transportation for intercollegiate athletics at SUNY Geneseo.

Department of Transportation

  • $64.4 million with ECCO III Enterprises Inc. for replacement of the Bronx River Parkway Bridge over the Metro North Railroad in Bronx County.
  • $13.5 million with Kubricky Construction Corp. for bridge replacement on Route 9 over I-87 in Saratoga County.
  • $5.3 million with Sullivan County Paving & Construction Inc. for 7.6 miles of asphalt concrete resurfacing on Route 17 in Sullivan County.
  • $2.4 million with Concrete Applied Technologies Corp. for asphalt milling and resurfacing on Route 18F in Niagara County.

Major Payments Approved

Tax Refunds and Credits

  • $318.5 million for 151,689 personal income tax refunds.
  • $62.6 million for 15,612 corporate and other tax refunds.
  • $47.8 million for 110,976 property tax credits.

Office of Children and Family Services

  • $11.9 million to childcare providers for the Essential Worker Scholarship grant program to provide care for children of essential workers.

City University of New York

  • $3.9 million for purchases to support the COVID-19 pandemic response, including building and grounds equipment, desktop computers, and IT consulting services.

Department of Civil Service

  • $281.6 million to CVS Caremark to provide pharmacy benefit services for the Empire, Excelsior and Student Employee Health plans.
  • $29.4 million to Beacon Health Options Inc. for benefit services for the Mental Health and Substance Abuse Program for the NYS Empire Plan.

Department of Corrections and Community Supervision

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

State Education Department

  • $16 million in general aid to 68 school districts.

Empire State Development Corporation

  • $4.8 million to Buffalo Bills Inc. for working capital, capital improvements, and game day operations costs.
  • $2.9 million to North American Breweries Inc. for construction and renovation costs and purchase of machinery and equipment to create an Eco-Brewery District in Monroe County.

Executive Chamber

  • $757,000 to Morvillo Abramowitz Grand Iasion & Anello P.C. for legal services.

Gaming Commission

  • $4.4 million for tribal-state compact payments to the city of Niagara Falls.

Office of General Services

  • $9.4 million for hourly-based IT services, including $1.9 million to Knowledge Builders Inc., $1.3 million to MVP Consulting Plus Inc. and $6.2 million to 31 other vendors. 
  • $3.9 million for purchases to support the COVID-19 pandemic response including custodial services.

Department of Health

  • $32.6 million for purchases to support the COVID-19 pandemic response, including administrative and clerical services, temporary staffing ambulance services, local grants and public assistance, and research and analysis.

Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services

  • $2 million for purchases to support the COVID-19 pandemic response, including medical supplies and materials.

Office of Information Technology Services

  • $3.3 million for purchases to support the COVID-19 pandemic response, including notebook computers.

Department of Labor

  • $4.3 billion for payments under the Unemployment Insurance, Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation, Mixed Earner Unemployment Compensation, and Lost Wages Assistance programs.

Office of Mental Health

  • $2.8 million for purchases to support the COVID-19 pandemic response, including temporary clinical services.

Division of Military and Naval Affairs

  • $1.1 million for purchases to support the COVID-19 pandemic response, including food and drink.

Office of the New York State Comptroller

  • $378.8 million to 1,385 Non-Entitlement Unit local governments to mitigate the fiscal effects of the COVID-19 public health emergency.

State University of New York

  • $6.8 million for purchases to support the COVID-19 pandemic response, including administrative and clerical services.

Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance

  • $2.7 million for the Emergency Rental Assistance Program.

Unified Court System

  • $2.4 million for purchases to support the COVID-19 pandemic response, including local grants and public assistance.

Other Payment Rejections and Other Cost Recoveries

OSC rejected tax refunds and credits valued at more than $4.5 million. The Comptroller’s auditors also recovered nearly $102,000 from vendors owing debts to the state and held payments of nearly $88,000 pending resolution of disputes between subcontractors and prime contractors.

Cumulatively through July for calendar year 2021, the Comptroller’s office has approved 9,623 contracts valued at $158 billion and has approved nearly 144.3 million payments worth more than $133.2 billion. The office has rejected 889 contracts and related transactions valued at $4.8 billion and nearly 88,000 payments valued at nearly $177.3 million primarily due to errors, improprieties or lack of documentation.

Track state and local government spending at Open Book New York. Under State Comptroller DiNapoli’s open data initiative, search millions of state and local government financial records, track state contracts, and find commonly requested data