Comptroller DiNapoli: Increase in Late Contracts with
Nonprofits Impacts Those in Need
In one of our recent newsletters we
reported on Urban
Institute's National Study on prompt contracting, which ranked
New York State within the "Top Ten Worst" in Nonprofit
contracting and payments.
Just this week, NYS Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli released a report with
additional data proving, unfortunately, what we already suspected. New
York State is getting worse at paying nonprofits what they are owed for
services.
Key Findings:
·
State agencies were late 87% of the time
in approving contracts with nonprofit providers in 2013.This is an increase from 2012,
when 78 percent of contracts were approved late.
·
Late approvals prompted interest
payments, mandated under the Prompt Contracting Law, which cost the state $185,519. The
bulk of the interest was paid by four agencies as seen in the below
table:
|
Agency
|
Amount
|
% of NYS Interest Paid
|
|
Department of Health
|
$79,573
|
43%
|
|
Division of Criminal Justice Services
|
$56,487
|
30%
|
|
Office of Children and Family Services
|
$24,969
|
13%
|
|
State Education Department
|
$24,155
|
13%
|
"Every day, New Yorkers rely on not-for-profits to care for their
children, improve their health, get housing and much more,"DiNapoli
said. "Simply put, the state can't provide all of these basic
services without the help of not-for-profit organizations. And when
contracts and payments are late, it hurts people and providers, costing
the state taxpayer dollars in interest payments
"We applaud Comptroller DiNapoli for tracking and highlighting this
problem year after year,"said Doug Sauer, chief executive officer of
the New York Council of Nonprofits Inc. "Unfortunately, facts do not
create policy, they only inform it. The state of New York, despite best
intentions, has taken its eye off the ball."
Although there have been multiple attempts to fix the system, such as the
NYS Grants Gateway, little has made any real substantial changes to
improve the system. The Comptroller's report recommends that state
agencies:
·
Make prompt contracting a priority to
reduce costs to the state and nonprofits
·
Pay prompt contracting interest with
the first payment due after the start of a late contract
·
Re-align contract start dates to
reflect the time required for the procurement process.
To download the
Full Report click here,
for a breakdown by nonprofit, region, and length of days for approval click
here.
|
