State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli announced today his office approved 1,558 contracts valued at $4.44 billion and approved nearly 4 million payments worth more than $10.5 billion in February. His office also rejected 168 contracts and related transactions valued at $1.85 billion and nearly 3,000 payments valued at more than $6 million due to fraud, waste or other improprieties.

Cumulatively through February for calendar year 2017, DiNapoli's office has approved 2,957 contracts valued at $ 7.06 billion and approved more than 6.2 million payments worth more nearly $20.5 billion. His office has also rejected 364 contracts and related transactions valued at $2.95 billion and more than 4,100 payments valued at nearly $20.4 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 six days for contract reviews in February 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.

Contract and payment actions for February 2017:

Major Contracts Approved

Department of Agriculture and Markets

• $625,000 with Cornell University for maple research.

Unified Court System - Community Dispute Resolution

• $15.3 million for 10 Community Dispute Resolution Center grants, including $3.4 million to the Center for Dispute Settlement; $3 million to Child and Family Services of Erie County; and $2.2 million to Mediation Matters, Inc.
• $292.4 million for 50 Judiciary Civil Legal Services grants, including $54.6 million to Legal Services NYC; $30.1 million to Legal Services of Central New York, Inc.; $27.6 million to Legal Services of the Hudson Valley; and $24.8 million to Legal Aid Society of Northeastern New York, Inc.
• $270,000 to TASC of the Capital District for Rensselaer County Drug Court Case Management.

Department of Environmental Conservation

• $11.1 million for construction of the Granular Activated Carbon Water Treatment System at Washington Lake Filtration Plant in Newburgh, including $8.3 million with Darlind Associates, Inc.; $1.5 million with Upstate Electrical, LLC; and $1.3 million with S&O Construction Services.
• $1.8 million with Catskill Center for Construction and Development for administration of the Catskill Regional Invasive Species Program.
• $1.6 million with Cornell University for New York Bight Whale Monitoring.
• $453,000 with the Open Space Institute Land Trust, Inc. for the purchase of vacant forest land on Alden Avenue in Warrensburg, Warren County.
• $300,000 grant to the village of Woodridge for dam safety.

Department of Financial Services

• $3.75 million for Independent Dispute Resolution. $1.25 million each with Independent Medical Expert Consulting Services, Inc., Island Peer Review Organization, Inc., and MCMC, LLC.

Department of Health

• $98.3 million with Medical Answering Services, LLC for Medicaid transportation management.
• $5.2 million with Island Peer Review Organization, Inc. for surveillance of the working hours and conditions of post-graduate trainees.
• $5.1 million for seven contracts for the Capital Restructuring Financing Program, including $1.3 million with Whitney M. Young, Jr. Health Center, Inc. in Albany and $1.1 million with Niagara Falls Memorial Medical Center.

Long Island Power Authority

• $177 million with Shoreham Solar Commons, LLC for the purchase of solar power.
• $2 million with PFM Asset Management, LLC for cash management and advisory services.
• $363,000 with US Bank National Association for custodial services.

Department of Transportation

• $65.6 million design/build contract with Crane Hogan Structural Systems, Inc. for the I-690 bridge replacement in Onondaga County.
• $13.7 million reimbursement agreement with National Railroad Passenger Corp. (AMTRAK) for capital equipment for intercity passenger services between New York and Vermont.
• $7.9 million with Safety Marking, Inc. for durable pavement markings at various locations in Nassau and Suffolk Counties.
• $7.3 million with International Road Dynamics Corporation for installation and maintenance of traffic data collection sites.
• $2.8 million with Harrison & Burrowes Bridge Constructors, Inc. for rehabilitation of the Route 4 bridge over the Hudson River in Saratoga and Rensselaer Counties.
• $2.7 million with Harrison & Burrowes Bridge Constructors, Inc. for rehabilitation of the South Mall Arterial in Albany.
• $2 million with Parsons Brinckerhoff, Inc. for design/build support services statewide.
• $302,000 with Coyle Industries for graffiti removal in the Hudson Valley.

Major Payments Approved

Tax Refunds

• $1.9 billion for 2.1 million personal income tax refunds.
• $482.3 million for 17,000 corporate and other refunds.
• $22.4 million for 67,000 property tax freeze credits.

Department of Agriculture and Markets

• $272,000 to Cornell University to support educational programs for the state's dairy industry.

Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services

• $747,000 to OPAD Media Solutions LLC for the Prescription Drug Abuse Campaign.
• $336,000 to the New York Council on Problem Gambling for compulsive gambling awareness.

Department of Economic Development

• $504,000 to Mary Elizabeth Mooney for Brand USA multimedia advertising services.

Empire State Development Corporation

• $98 million to Fort Schuyler Management Corp. for real estate acquisition, planning and design, construction, machinery and equipment at the Riverbend/SolarCity facility in Buffalo.
• $15 million to SUNY Research Foundation for renovations and acquisition of machinery and equipment for the Global 450 Wafer Development and Deployment Consortium in Albany.
• $2 million to Fort Schuyler Management Corp. for equipment, planning, design, and engineering services for the industrial-scale 3D printing manufacturing facility in Clinton County.
• $1.1 million to the state Olympic Regional Development Authority to maintain Olympic and ski facilities.

Department of Environmental Conservation

• $1.3 million to the New England Interstate Water Pollution Control Commission to coordinate and implement the Hudson River Estuary program.
• $949,000 to the U.S. Geological Survey for the groundwater monitoring program.

Gaming Commission

• $5 million to nine local governments for tribal compact payments.

Office of Children and Family Services

• $2.5 million to New York City to administer day care registration and licensing.

Office of General Services

• $9 million for hourly-based IT services, including $2.6 million to PSI International Inc., $1.9 million to IIT Inc., and $957,000 to Software People Inc.
• $5.1 million to the Albany Convention Center Authority for the Albany Capital Center Project.
• $395,000 to CHA Consulting Inc. for consulting services, including security design.

Department of Health

• $1.8 million to OPAD Media Solutions LLC for advertising campaigns, including $946,000 for health insurance open enrollment.

New York State Legislature – Assembly

• $42,000 to Rossein Associates for outside counsel related to sexual harassment policy development and investigations.
• $3,000 to Roemer Wallens Gold & Mineaux LLP for outside counsel for independent investigations of sexual harassment.

Department of Motor Vehicles

• $808,000 to CBN Secure Technologies Inc. for the production of driver's license and identification card documents.

State University Construction Fund

• $6.4 million to LP Ciminelli Inc. to construct and renovate the University of Buffalo's School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences.

State University of New York

• $357,000 to CHA Consulting Inc. for design and other services.
• $43,000 to Kelley Drye & Warren LLP for special counsel related to the U.S. Attorney's investigation of SUNY Polytechnic.

Department of Transportation

• $1.1 million to The Pike Co. for design and build services at the Rochester Amtrak Train Station.
• $1 million to Parsons Brinckerhoff Inc. for biennial and interim bridge inspections in the Hudson Valley.

Payment Rejections and Other Cost Recoveries

The Comptroller's rejection of nearly 3,000 payments valued at more than $6 million included tax refunds valued at nearly $3.3 million. DiNapoli's auditors also recovered nearly $121,000 from vendors owing debts to the state, and held payments of $731,000 pending resolution of disputes between subcontractors and prime contractors.

For access to state and local government spending, public authority financial data and information on 130,000 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.