Title 9 Part 1906

This policy statement is adopted pursuant to section 2880 of the Public Authorities Law and is applicable to the purchase of goods, services or property from contractors, as herein defined.

Contractors who are owed money by the corporation shall send a proper invoice to the attention of finance unit, the designated payment department of the corporation. Finance unit will log the reception date of the invoice, and send the document to the unit within the corporation that received the purchased goods, property or services from the contractor for review and verification.

The corporation will adhere to the following schedule for a prompt payment:

This schedule will not apply in those instances where payment is being delayed for any of the exceptions listed in subdivision (e) of this section or tolled for any of the reasons listed in subdivision (f) of this section.

If the corporation fails to meet the prompt payment schedule set forth in subdivision (b) of this section, the corporation will pay interest to the affected contractors at the rate equal to that set by the State Tax Commission for corporate taxes.

The corporation will pay penalties with monies drawn from interest earnings on investments.

The following facts or conditions constitute exceptions to the prompt payment schedule set forth in subdivision (b) of this section:

In addition, the corporation is not responsible for the processing time taken by the Department of Taxation and Finance, the Division of the Budget, the Office of the State Comptroller, or any other external entity that is required by statute or regulation to approve or process corporation payments.

The following facts or conditions toll the prompt payment schedule set forth in subdivision (b) of this section:

In order to toll the prompt payment schedule without penalty, the corporation has 15 days after receipt of an invoice to send a contractor notification of defects or improprieties. Corporation notification shall be in the form of a standardized letter. In the event that the corporation fails to act within 15 days, once the defect or impropriety is corrected, the number of days allowed for payment is reduced by the number of days between the 15th day and the date of notification. In the event that the corporation's objections are proved unreasonable, the date by which contract payment shall be made is calculated from the date of receipt of invoice.

Within 30 days of the adoption of this statement, and of any amendments hereto, the corporation shall file copies with the State Comptroller, the State Director of the Budget, the Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, and the Chairman of the Assembly Ways and Means Committee.

Within 90 days after the end of each fiscal year following January 1, 1989, the corporation shall prepare an annual report on the scope and implementation of this prompt payment policy. The report shall include, but not be limited to, the following:

Copies of this report shall be filed with the State Comptroller, the State Director of the Budget, the Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee and the Chairman of the Assembly Ways and Means Committee.

The corporation shall have the power to amend this policy statement by promulgating amended rules and regulations at any time.

The policy statement in effect at the time of the creation of a contract is hereby incorporated into and made a part of that contract.

The corporation shall make copies of this policy statement, as well as the annual report, available to the public upon reasonable request at the corporation's main office. In addition, the corporation shall provide a copy of this policy statement to each contractor.

The statute authorizing this statement is not applicable to the corporation contracts with other governmental agencies, to interest on judgments rendered by a court against the corporation pursuant to any other statute, or in situations where the corporation exercises a legally authorized setoff against all or part of a payment due a contractor. In addition, this policy statement shall not apply to contracts with eligible applicants for the furnishing by such applicants of housing for persons of low income.

The corporation is under no liability to pay interest pursuant to the statute after a contractor has filed a claim or given notice of an intention to file claim or commenced legal action for payment of interest.