State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli announced today his office approved 1,821 contracts valued at $1.9 billion and approved 1.7 million payments worth $8.5 billion in August. His office also rejected 191 contracts and related transactions valued at $713 million and nearly 1,600 payments valued at $61.6 million due to fraud, waste or other improprieties.

Cumulatively through August for calendar year 2015, DiNapoli’s office has approved approximately 13,750 contracts valued at nearly $138 billion and approved 22.1 million payments worth $88 billion. His office has also rejected 1,466 contracts and related transactions valued at nearly $4 billion and 26,000 payments valued at $120 million.

As the state’s chief financial officer, DiNapoli’s office reviews contracts for all state agencies and certain contracts for 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 six days for contract reviews in August 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 and Markets – NY State Fair

• $2 million for 15 contracts to provide entertainers.
• $1.4 million for three contracts for services including ambulance, mobile restrooms and bedding/manure removal.

Department of Corrections and Community Supervision

• $4.5 million for revenue contracts with 22 counties to sell food products to county jails.

Division of Criminal Justice Services

• $15.8 million for 69 grants for various law enforcement and justice programs, including $5.3 million to 10 counties and eight cities for the Gun Involved Violence Elimination initiative (GIVE).
• $6.6 million for 33 grants to various entities for law enforcement and justice programs including: $979,000 to the Unified Court System; $961,000 to the New York State Coalition on Domestic Violence; and $639,000 to Westchester County Legal Aid Society.
• $3.3 million to Westchester County for additional police officers on Westchester parkways.

Office of General Services

• $955,000 with Rand Atelier LLC for art conservation.
• 877,000 with Masi Valenti Productions and Shows Inc. for professional staging services at the Empire State Plaza Convention Center.
• $661,000 with Williamstown Art Conservation Center Inc. for art conservation.

Department of Health

• $95.6 million with Island Peer Review Organization Inc. for Medicaid quality/utilization reviews.
• $15.7 million to Weill Cornell Medical College, $11.9 million to Health Research Inc and $8.8 million to Icahn School of Medicine for stem cell research.

Office of the Medicaid Inspector General

• $67.5 million with the University of Massachusetts for Medicare maximization services.

Department of Motor Vehicles

• 4.3 million for three revenue contracts for the sale of data files to Experian, R. L. Polk and Carfax.

Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation 

• $7.3 million for construction rehabilitation of the Upper Plaza at Roberto Clemente State Park.
• $4 million to replace the Quaker Lake Bathhouse at Allegany State Park.
• $1.4 million to rehabilitate the bath house at Hamlin Beach State Park.
• $1.3 million revenue generating lease with National Fuel Gas Supply Corp for lease of the underground gas storage at Allegany State Park.
• $1.1 million for bathhouse construction at Higley Flow State Park.

State University of New York

• $18 million with MedBest Medical Management Inc. to provide IT consulting for maintenance and support of the electronic medical records system at SUNY Upstate Medical University.
• $11.3 million with University Pathologists Laboratories to provide pathology services at SUNY Upstate Medical University.
• $5 million with the General Electric Company to provide GE software maintenance and support at SUNY Upstate Medical University.
• $2 million with Niagara National Inc. to provide student health insurance at SUNY Binghamton.
• $1.5 million with Kelley Drye and Warren LLP for special counsel for SUNY Polytechnic.

New York State Thruway Authority

• $11.7 million with Cold Spring Construction Co. to pave and resurface in the Buffalo area.
• $2 million with Labella Associates for statewide design services.
• $1.6 million with Navistar Inc. for heavy duty trucks.
• $932,000 with United Uniform Co. for work clothing.
• $600,000 in additional funding for litigation services with Whiteman, Osterman and Hanna.
• $300,000 in additional funding for legal services with Holland and Knight.

Department of Transportation

• $152.9 million construction funding to NYC for the Belt Parkway Bridge over Mill Basin. 
• $47.6 million with Ecco III Enterprises for design and construction work on six critical bridges in Orange and Westchester counties.
• $23.9 million with Halmar International LLC for design and construction work on eight critical bridges in Columbia and Dutchess Counties.

Major Payments Approved

Tax Refunds

• $155.5 million for 69,000 personal income tax refunds.
• $73.1 million for 28,000 corporate and other refunds.
• $14,000 for 115 property tax freeze credits.

Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services

• $500,000 to The Fortune Society Inc. for chemical dependency and problem gambling programs.

Department of Civil Service

• $15.9 million to ValueOptions Inc. for mental health and substance abuse services.

Department of Economic Development 

• $262,000 to High Tech Rochester Inc. and $255,000 to Western New York Technology Development through the Regional Technology Development Centers.

New York State Gaming Commission

• $10.4 million to eleven counties for tribal compact payments.

Department of Health

• $7.6 million to 38 vendors for medical marijuana program application fee refunds.
• $694,000 to United Way of New York City for hunger prevention and nutrition.

Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Services

• $2.3 million to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey for Urban Areas Security Initiative.

New York State Legislature – Assembly

• $24,000 to Hogan Lovells US LLP for legal fees related to the investigation of former Assemblyman Dennis Gabryszak.
• $22,000 to Rossein Associates for outside counsel related to sexual harassment policy development and investigations.
• $11,000 to Zuckerman Spaeder LLC for representation in the investigation of former Assembly SPEAKER Sheldon Silver.
• $6,000 to Roemer Wallens Gold & Mineaux LLP for outside counsel for independent sexual harassment investigations.

Office of Mental Health

• $3.4 million to the Jewish Board of Family and Children’s Services.

Department of State

• $1.2 million to NYC for the waterfront revitalization program.

New York State Thruway Authority

• $55.9 million to Tappan Zee Constructors LLC for construction of the Tappan Zee Bridge.
• $2.1 million to HNTB New York Engineering & Architecture PC for engineering services for the Tappan Zee Bridge.

Department of Transportation

• $10.7 million to National Railroad Passenger Corp. for projects on the high-speed Hudson and Albany Schenectady Double Track rail lines.
• $869,000 to Union Concrete and Construction Corp. for reconstruction of connections to the Peace Bridge Plaza in the City of Buffalo.

State University of New York

• $2.3 million to McTech Corp for SUNY Albany campus center expansion.
• $1 million to Robert H Law Inc. to replace the main athletic field at the College at Oswego.

New York State Urban Development Corporation

• $60 million to Empire State Development Corporation for Fort Schuyler Management Corporation to establish the Buffalo High-Tech Manufacturing Innovation Hub at RiverBend Park.

Payment Rejections and Other Cost Recoveries

The Comptroller’s rejection of nearly 1,600 payments valued at approximately $61.6 million included nearly 240 tax refunds valued at more than $6.1 million. DiNapoli’s auditors also recovered more than $233,000 from vendors owing debts to the state, and held payments of more than $376,000 pending resolution of disputes between subcontractors and prime contractors.

Open Book New York

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 by DiNapoli to promote openness in government and provide taxpayers with better access to the financial workings of government.