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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 May 2017

June 20, 2017

State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli announced today his office approved 1,531 contracts valued at $14 billion and approved nearly 2.3 million payments worth more than $12 billion in May. His office also rejected 219 contracts and related transactions valued at $400 million and nearly 1,900 payments valued at more than $7 million due to fraud, waste or other improprieties.

Cumulatively through May for calendar year 2017, DiNapoli's office has approved 7,264 contracts valued at $31.06 billion and approved more than 16.7 million payments worth more nearly $67.8 billion. His office has also rejected 996 contracts and related transactions valued at $28.5 billion and more than 16,700 payments valued at nearly $44.9 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 10 days for contract reviews in May 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 May 2017:

Major Contracts Approved

Governor's Office of Employee Relations
  • $4.8 million with WageWorks Inc. as third party administrator for New York State Flex Spending Accounts.
Department of Environmental Conservation
  • $8.6 million with SOLitude Lake Management LLC to manage the aquatic invasive plant Hydrilla in the Croton River.
Department of Health
  • $572.2 million with Aetna Better Health Inc. for Medicaid managed long term care.
  • $267.8 million for 18 Capital Restructuring Financing Program contracts including three contracts valued at $209.8 million in total with NYC Health & Hospital Corp.
  • $123.8 million with Village Senior Services Corporation for Medicaid managed long term care.
  • $20.8 million for eight pregnancy prevention grants including $3.7 million to Buffalo Federation of Neighborhood Centers Inc. and $3.3 million to Planned Parenthood of Central and Western NY Inc.
  • $9.1 million to Moses Ludington Hospital for essential health care provider support.
  • $2.5 million for three mobile mammography grants including $833,000 each to Mount Sinai Hospital, Our Lady of Lourdes Memorial Hospital and Rochester General Hospital.
Legislature – New York State Assembly
  • $50,000 with Rossein Associates for amendment to outside counsel contract for investigations.
  • $50,000 with Roemer Wallens Gold & Mineaux for amendment to outside counsel contract for investigations.
  • $250,000 with Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP for outside legal counsel in the Citizens Union lawsuit against the Joint Commission on Public Ethics.
Commission on Public Integrity
  • $150,000 one-year extension for outside counsel contract with Winston & Strawn LLP for Joint Commission on Public Ethics litigation.
Department of Public Service
  • $1 million two-year extension for outside counsel contract with Spiegel & McDiarmid LLP.
State University of New York at Buffalo
  • $8.9 million with Sodexo Operations LLC for custodial management services.
State University of New York at Stonybrook
  • $10.3 billion with Southampton Hospital for a 50-year operating lease of Southampton Hospital, Suffolk County.
  • $19.4 million for four collection services contracts including $8.5 million with Aergo Solutions LLC and $5.2 million with Kopp Billing.
  • $2.8 million with The Research Foundation for the State University of New York for training/field-based staff for various Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance programs.
  • $1.5 million one-year extension amending the special counsel contract with Kelley Drye & Warren LLP for issues related to SUNY Polytechnic.
State University of New York Upstate Medical University
  • $21.5 million for 25 contracts with SUNY Upstate Medical Hospital for temporary clinical staffing services.
New York State Urban Development Corporation
  • $1.3 billion with Lendlease Turner a Joint Venture for Jacob Javits Center expansion.

Major Payments Approved

Tax Refunds
  • $500 million for 423,000 personal income tax refunds.
  • $213.3 million for 36,000 corporate and other refunds.
  • $6.7 million for 23,000 property tax freeze credits.
Division of Criminal Justice Services
  • $211,000 to Vera Institute of Justice Inc. for services and expenses for New York immigrant families.
Empire State Development Corporation
  • $2 million to Buffalo Urban Development Corporation for demolition, remediation, renovations, construction, and site/street improvements along Northland Avenue in Buffalo, NY.
Gaming Commission
  • $12.7 million to 12 local governments for tribal compact payments.
Office of General Services
  • $18.2 million for hourly-based IT services including $5.4 million to PSI International Inc., $3 million to MVP Consulting Plus Inc., and $2.1 million to IIT Inc.
  • $2.5 million to Albany Convention Center Authority for the Albany Capital Center Project.
  • $229,000 to CHA Consulting Inc. for statewide dam inspections and engineering services.
Department of Health
  • $46 million to Maximus Inc. and $540,000 to Computer Science Corporation for assistance with the state's Health Benefit Exchange.
Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services
  • $2 million to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey for the Urban Area Security Initiative.
New York State Legislature – Assembly
  • $58,000 to Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP for outside counsel related to the Citizens United lawsuit.
Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation
  • $1.1 million to Economy Paving Co. Inc. to rehabilitate the lower entrance of the Watkins Glen State Park in Schuyler County.
  • $1 million to Biltwel General Contractor Corp. to rehabilitate a bathhouse at the Robert Moses State Park in Suffolk County.
State University of New York Construction Fund
  • $9.5 million to LP Ciminelli to construct and renovate the University of Buffalo's School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences.
Department of Transportation
  • $8.3 million to the National Railroad Passenger Corp. for the state share of operating expenses for Amtrak intercity rail passenger services.
  • $216,000 to CHA Consulting Inc. for consulting services, including $167,000 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 1,900 payments valued at more than $7 million included tax refunds valued at nearly $2.7 million. DiNapoli's auditors also recovered more than $65,000 from vendors owing debts to the state, and held payments of more than $67,000 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.