State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli today announced Contracts by the Numbers, a new web page with a dashboard that expands the procurement search tools provided in Open Book New York. This new tool lets users perform more robust searches on state agency and public authority contracts, including identifying who has the biggest and most contracts with New York state.
“Transparency is the hallmark of good government, and my office strives to provide the public with in-depth data to keep track of where their tax dollars are being spent,” DiNapoli said. “This tool will help the public, advocates, and researchers, as well as subcontractors, MWBEs, and other entities looking to do business with the state readily access information about state contracts. During Sunshine Week we emphasize the importance of open government, and I hope this initiative will help keep the public informed.”
With the new tool, contracts can be searched and sorted by agency or authority, vendor, and contract type. This includes both contracts that are reviewed and not reviewed by DiNapoli’s office.
The site also shows the average time it takes the office to review contracts, as well as the resulting cost savings the Comptroller’s oversight provides. The oversight extends to most state agency contracts, generally those where the contract value exceeds $50,000 and certain state public authority contracts valued at more than $1 million if they are either awarded noncompetitively or paid in whole or in part from state appropriations.
The Comptroller’s independent contract review is an essential and important deterrent to waste, fraud and abuse. By reviewing contracts before they are awarded, the office helps ensure the integrity of the procurement process and protects taxpayers, agencies, local governments, nonprofit organizations and other vendors by uncovering significant fiscal and integrity issues.
Contract review by the Comptroller’s office on average took approximately six days in 2023, just a fraction of the time of the overall procurement cycle. Over 94% of all contracts reviewed in 2023 were either approved or non-approved within 15 days. In calendar year 2023, the office reviewed 26,081 agency contract transactions totaling $163.2 billion.