General Services, Office of

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Agency Web Site: https://ogs.ny.gov/

Mission

The New York State Office of General Services (OGS) manages and leases real property; designs and builds facilities; contracts for goods, services, and technology; and delivers a wide array of support services. They provide government and nonprofit agencies with innovative solutions, integrated service, and best value in support of cost-effective operations and responsible public stewardship.

Organization and Staffing

OGS is headed by a Commissioner who is appointed by the Governor, subject to Senate confirmation. The agency is organized into six major business units: Real Estate and Property Management Services; Design and Construction; Procurement Services; Business Services Center; Administration and Operations; and Finance and Accountability. These units are under the direction of the Commissioner’s Office and act under the auspices of an Executive group that consists of the Commissioner’s Office, Public Information, Legal Services, Media Services, and Internal Audit.

Under Governor Cuomo, OGS has established a number of major Enterprise Shared Services that are helping to streamline government functions. These enterprises work to increase efficiencies that result in better services and savings to taxpayers. The Business Services Center (BSC) and Procurement Services, the first two enterprises, have reached maturity and are now taking on a stronger role in State services. Others, including the Real Estate Center, the Division of Service-Disabled Veterans’ Business Development (DSDVBD), Fleet Management, and Media Services continue to grow and serve an expanding number of State agencies. In addition, the agency also continues to manage the full breadth of other services at the core of the Agency’s mission.

Budget Highlights

The FY 2020 Executive Budget recommends $1.2 billion All Funds ($125 million General Fund; $18 million Special Revenue Funds-Other; $14 million Federal Funds; $15 million Enterprise Funds; $856 million Internal Service Funds; $750,000 Fiduciary Funds; and $204 million Capital Funds) reflecting an All Funds increase of $21 million from FY 2019. The increase reflects additional funding for capital projects, primarily for aging infrastructure at the Harriman Campus and Empire State Plaza.

The Executive Budget recommends a workforce of 1,931, unchanged from FY 2019.

Program Highlights

Executive Administration

Provides the day-to-day management of the agency, serves State agencies by performing professional communication services, and provides legal and audit support to hosted agencies.

Real Estate Center

Comprises three business units: The Real Property and Facilities Management Group, which is responsible for the administration and daily operations of 58 major and 118 ancillary buildings comprising over 20 million square feet and totaling over $7 billion in assets; the Real Estate Services Group, which manages the State’s lease portfolio totaling 500 leases representing 12 million square feet of office space and $250 million in annual spend; and the State Asset and Portfolio Management Group, which coordinates real estate-related projects, maintains the statewide real estate inventory, and performs data analytics. These three groups work together to enable OGS to strategically manage and optimize the use of the State’s real estate portfolio, including identifying potential cost reduction opportunities and efficiency improvements, as well as real estate management best practices and methods.

Design and Construction (D&C)

Provides a full range of high-quality architectural, engineering, permitting, and construction management services to over 30 Executive State agencies through an interdependent model of public and private sector resources. Those services include site assessments, design/construction feasibility studies and planning, design development, bidding, contract management, construction management, and quality inspection. D&C also performs project document reviews for code compliance and permitting. In addition, D&C is uniquely responsible for statewide emergency contracting for urgent damage/system failure repairs throughout the State ranging from every day 365/24/7 response to severe weather events. D&C is committed to providing timely, efficient, responsive, and cost-effective construction projects thereby enabling those agencies to fulfill their own diverse missions on behalf of the people of New York State.

Procurement Services

Establishes and maintains more than 1,300 centralized contracts for commodities, technology, and services valued at approximately $22 billion for use by State agencies and municipalities, as well as other public and some nonprofit entities. Procurement Services works to acquire commodities and services at competitive, volume discounted/reduced prices while maintaining the statutory compliance and strategic effectiveness of all procurements. Procurement Services also educates vendors and public purchasers about how to participate effectively in the State’s procurement process.

Business Services Center (BSC)

A shared services organization that provides standardized financial and human resources transaction processing services to the Executive agencies, with a focus on best practices, customer service, and efficiency. In the finance area, the BSC processes transactions related to accounts payable, accounts receivable, credit cards, purchasing, and employee travel and expense reimbursements. In the human resources management area, the BSC processes employee benefits, payroll, time and attendance, and personnel transactions. The BSC currently provides finance services to 65 agencies and human resources services to 53 agencies. The BSC also continues to lead efforts to enhance the State’s human resources technology systems, thereby enabling the BSC to transition the remaining Executive agencies into the BSC for human resources services and to onboard agencies for finance services as they become online users of the Statewide Financial System (SFS).

Finance and Accountability

Provides financial services to OGS and selected hosted agencies and has responsibility for a number of statewide initiatives. Statewide responsibilities include the centralized procurement of insurance and the provision of insurance and risk management expertise, consulting services, and commercial insurance product access; the development and administration of enterprise fleet initiatives and implementation; and administration of the State’s Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Business (SDVOB) program.

Administration and Operations

Provides human resources and diversity/equal employment opportunity services to OGS and hosted agencies, along with an array of statewide support services. This group’s support responsibilities include the management of the State’s consolidated warehouse program; the provision of interagency mail and centralized printing services; the administration of the transfer of Federal and State surplus property; the coordination of cultural events; and the distribution of over $129 million worth of food purchased by the Federal Government, including locally grown New York State produce, to approximately 3,500 recipient entities that include qualified New York State schools, child and adult care feeding programs, food banks, soup kitchens, and child summer feeding programs.

Note: Most recent estimates as of 1/15/2019