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.
2024 Results Demonstrate Cost-Effective Oversight
25,263
Total Agency Contracts Received
7.47 Days
Average Time for Contract Review
89%
Reviewed Within 15 Days
Average Days to Review Contracts
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 240,000 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 State University of New York at Stony Brook submitted a purchase order for scientific and laboratory equipment. The cost of the equipment was higher than another known vendor and included tariff fees. The Comptroller’s office requested SUNY Stony Brook negotiate the costs further and questioned the applicability of tariff fees. The result was a price reduction and an approved tariff waiver, resulting in savings of $183,750.
The Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS) submitted a five-year contract for ambulance services. The rates in the proposed contract were significantly higher than Medicaid rates and rates from prior agreements. Therefore, the Comptroller’s office requested DOCCS engage the vendor to negotiate lower rates. The agency requested the transaction be returned and later resubmitted the contract with lower rates, resulting in an estimated savings of $695,545.
Identifying Costly Errors and Contract Duplication
The Division of State Police submitted a purchase order for uniforms for the police academy. The Comptroller’s review identified that the State Police did not apply the appropriate volume pricing discount. The purchase order was resubmitted with the volume discount pricing, saving the State $25,298.
The Office of General Services (OGS) submitted an amendment for custodial services incorrectly applying escalation. BOC identified the discrepancy and non-approved the transaction. OGS resubmitted the transaction with the correct escalation, saving the State $89,714.
Ensuring a Level Playing Field for Vendors
The Department of Labor submitted a transaction for security guard services that included rates increases over the original bid. Allowing an increase after bidding would be inappropriate and unfair to other bidders. The transaction was returned and subsequently resubmitted with the lower rates from the original bid, saving the State $26,479.
Multiple State Agencies submitted transactions against the Office of General Services’ Manufacturer Based Information Technology Umbrella Contract that included software and services that were excluded under the contract terms. Allowing non-contract items to be purchased would be unfair to the other centralized contract vendors offering similar products. These transactions were non-approved.