| The New York
City Charter requires all contracts or agreements between city agencies
and vendors be registered by the New York City Comptroller. The Comptroller's
Office of Contract Administration (OCA) is responsible for reviewing
all contracts, contract amendments, leases and concessions between
City agencies and vendors to determine whether the agreement should
be registered. The Comptroller's Office has 30 calendar days in which
it must register, reject, or object to the registration of a contract.
Registration is the process through which the Comptroller:
- Sets aside or "encumbers" funds to insure that monies
are available to pay contractors upon the satisfactory completion
of contract work
- Maintains a registry of City contracts and agreements, and
ensures the accuracy of the contract information input by agencies
into the City's database
- Reviews contractor information for integrity and performance
issues, identifies areas of contract abuse or potential areas
where improvements in contract language, rules or laws may be
required
- Presents objections if, in the Comptroller's judgment, there
is sufficient reason to believe there is possible corruption in
the letting of the contract or that the proposed contractor is
involved in corrupt activity; and
- Tracks City expenditures and revenues associated with those
contracts.
Contracts are reviewed by OCA through the Comptroller's optical
image and workflow application known as the Omnibus Automated Image
Storage and Information System ("OAISIS"). Each year,
OCA receives approximately 18,000 agreements for registration resulting
in the review through OAISIS of 1.2 million pieces of paper.
Any one who believes that there has been unfairness, favoritism
or impropriety in the City contracting process should inform the
New York City Comptroller's Office of Contract Administration, 1
Centre Street, Room 1005, New York, NY 10007; email: contract@comptroller.nyc.gov
|
