This Section provides a summary of the Office of the State Comptroller’s (OSC) approval thresholds (State Finance Law § 112 and Education Law § 355, § 373, § 6218 and § 6275) and agency discretionary buying thresholds (State Finance Law § 163). (See OSC Approval Thresholds Summary for additional information.)
OSC APPROVAL THRESHOLDS
State Finance Law § 112(2)(a) defines the following OSC approval thresholds for contracts entered into by State agencies and the Office of General Services (OGS):
State Agency contracts over $50,000 State Agency purchases from OGS Centralized Contracts over $200,000 OGS contracts over $85,000 OGS Business Service Center Customer Agency transactions over $85,000 OGS Centralized Contracts over $125,000 |
OSC approval thresholds for contracts entered into by State University of New York (SUNY), City University of New York (CUNY), SUNY state university health care facilities as defined in Education Law § 350(5), State University Construction Fund (SUCF) and City University Construction Fund (CUCF) are as follows:
SUNY, CUNY contracts for goods, services, construction and printing over $75,000 SUNY, CUNY purchases from OGS Centralized Contracts over $200,000 SUNY State University Health Care Facility contracts over $150,000 SUCF, CUCF contracts and leases over $75,000 |
The approval threshold in State Finance Law § 112(3), which covers contracts where the State agrees to give consideration other than the payment of money, is over $25,000 for all agencies (see Section 7 - Revenue and Repayment Agreements of this Chapter, for additional information).
CONTRACTS NOT SUBJECT TO COMPTROLLER APPROVAL
Contracts valued under the approval threshold or otherwise not subject to approval by the State Comptroller should be given the unique contract prefix designated for such agreements and should be created in the Statewide Financial System (SFS) with the appropriate Audit Type (see Section 2.B.1 – Contract Prefixes of this Chapter, for additional information).
DISCRETIONARY BUYING THRESHOLDS
State Finance Law § 163(6) provides for purchases of services and commodities without a formal competitive process as follows:
| State Agencies Not exceeding $50,000 OGS Not exceeding $85,000 |
These thresholds may not apply to procurements governed under other sections of law including but not limited to construction, architecture, engineering and surveying services, etc.
State Finance Law § 163(6) also establishes the following thresholds:
Discretionary purchases of commodities or services from Small Business Concerns; purchases of Recycled or Remanufactured commodities or technology:
| State Agencies (including OGS) Not exceeding $500,000 |
Discretionary purchases of commodities or services from certified Minority or Women-Owned Business Enterprises (M/WBEs); or certified Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Businesses (SDVOBs):
| State Agencies (including OGS) Not exceeding $750,000 |
For commodities that are food, including milk and milk products or animal or plant fiber products, that are grown, produced, harvested or processed in New York State or textile products manufactured from animal or plant fiber grown or produced predominantly in New York State:
| State Agencies (including OGS) Not exceeding $200,000 |
Please note: the discretionary thresholds above solely apply to permit agencies to purchase services and commodities without conducting a formal competitive process and do not affect the thresholds set forth above under “OSC Approval Thresholds.” For information on OSC prior approval purchases from OGS centralized contracts exceeding the OSC approval threshold, see Section XI.8.A Centralized Contracts.
Process and Document Preparation:
Once an agency has determined that a transaction is subject to prior approval by OSC, the agency selects the appropriate Audit Type. SFS uses the Audit Type to route the transaction to OSC for prior approval, and to direct the transaction to the appropriate audit team in OSC’s Bureau of Contracts (BOC).
Guide to Financial Operations
REV. 04/05/2024