Comptroller DiNapoli Ensures State Procurements Provide the Highest Value to New Yorkers
For more than a century, the Comptroller’s Office has conducted independent, pre-review of State and limited Public Authority contacts, adding transparency to the process and resulting in hundreds of millions of dollars in savings for taxpayers each year. As government contracting expands in size, scope and complexity this oversight is more important than ever.
The Comptroller's contract oversight extends to most State agency contracts, generally those where the contract value exceeds $50,000. The Comptroller may also review 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. In addition, any State agency seeking to waive competitive bidding and receive an exemption from its statutory requirement to advertise a procurement opportunity in the New York State Contract Reporter must first receive approval from the Comptroller's Office.
Benefits of the Comptroller’s Review
Promotes fair competition to ensure the best price and overall value for the State
Detects fraud and waste before tax dollars are spent
Confirms funding availability so that agencies do not overspend
Verifies vendor responsibility
Adds transparency to the process
Review Has Little Impact on the Overall Time Frame of Procurements
Comptroller DiNapoli's procurement experts and legal team are sensitive to agency deadlines and the State’s business needs and understand that delays can cost New York’s taxpayers and businesses money, keep workers idle, and harm not-for-profits.
Results for 2023 Demonstrate Cost-Effective Oversight
26,081
Total Agency Contracts Received
6.35 Days
Average Time for Contract Review
94%
Reviewed Within 15 Days
Average Days to Review Contracts Remains Consistent
Value of Contracts Reviewed by Calendar Year
Less Than 1 Percent of Contracts Take Longer Than 45 Days to Review
The very small percentage of contracts completed after the 31 day timeframe are generally due to complex procurements and/or protest procurements.
Tools and Dashboards
Search All Contracts
Search over 230,000 contracts that State agencies have with businesses, not-for-profit organizations and other governmental entities in effect April 1, 2012, or later. Includes contracts subject to the Comptroller’s review and approval and those that are not.
View Breakdown of Contracts by Agency/Authority or Type
Search and sort contracts by agency/authority, vendor and contract type.
Contract Review Highlights
Finding Opportunities to Renegotiate and Save Costs
The Office Mental Health (OMH) submitted a contract for fire protection systems for their various facilities with higher than previous rates for similar services. The Comptroller’s review requested OMH renegotiate the rates, resulting in a reduction of $2,092,810 to the original contract value.
The Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) submitted a contract for printing services that had both annual and quarterly escalation increases. DMV reviewed the escalation provisions and resubmitted a new contract with only quarterly escalation, resulting in about $269,005 in savings.
Identifying Costly Errors and Contract Duplication
The New York State Division of Military and Naval Affairs submitted a transaction for vehicle rental service, which used rates that failed to include an allowed discount under the rate structure of the Office of General Services’ centralized contract. The transaction was resubmitted utilizing the new rate structure, resulting in a savings of $229,625.
The State University of New York Upstate Medical University (SUNY Upstate) submitted a purchase order for renovations for a leased space, which included tenant allowances for improvements. The Comptroller's team questioned why the purchase order wasn’t used for the renovations and non-approved. SUNY Upstate ultimately covered the renovations, saving $148,536.
Ensuring a Level Playing Field for Vendors
The Department of Transportation (DOT) submitted a purchase order against an Office of General Services’ centralized contract which would increase item pricing as the contract terms required the pricing to remain firm once quoted by the vendor. Therefore, allowing an increase would be inappropriate and unfair to other centralized contract vendors offering similar products on the same terms and conditions. The transaction was non-approved, saving the State $11,344.
The State University of New York at Old Westbury (SUNY) submitted a construction change order which included costs for material escalations that weren’t allowed for in the bid documents. Allowing an increase in the material costs would be inappropriate and unfair to other vendors who bid with the understanding that the material pricing would remain fixed. The Comptroller’s office non-approved the change order and SUNY resubmitted it without the escalation, saving $47,220.