The Oneida Daily Dispatch (Oneida, NY)
Dinapoli announces new site to check state contracts
State Comptroller Thomas Dinapoli recently announced Contracts by the Numbers, a new web page with a dashboard that expands the procurement search tools provided in Open Book New York.
According to a press release announcing the launch, 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 in the release. “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, the release said. 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. According to the release, 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, the release said. 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, officials said. Over 94% of all contracts reviewed in 2023 were either approved or non-approved within 15 days. In the calendar year 2023, the office reviewed 26,081 agency contract transactions totaling $163.2 billion.