NYC Transparency Project

NYC Transparency Project: Glossary

Government entities that enter into business relationships on behalf of the City. For FMS and Discretionary Award data, these include the various boards, commissions, and departments that make up City government, as well as the offices of elected officials. For Doing Business data, these also include the School Construction Authority, Health and Hospitals Corporation, Economic Development Corporation, New York City Housing Authority, and other public benefit corporations and government-related entities. For a complete list of agencies covered by the Transparency project, see the Agency Report.

Award Method Back to Top

The procurement method used by the City to award a contract, franchise, or concession. The most commonly used methods are defined in this glossary; for a complete list and more information see the glossary in the Procurement Indicators Report.

Award Sponsor Back to Top

A City Council Member or Borough President who initiates a discretionary award as part of the City's budget process. All discretionary awards have Lead Sponsors, and some have Co-Sponsors. See Discretionary Award.

"Breadcrumbs" is a word used to describe a web site navigation technique. Breadcrumbs typically appear horizontally near the top of a web page, providing links back to each previous page that the user navigates through in order to get to the current page. They provide a trail for the user to follow back to the starting/entry point of a web site.

Budget Year Back to Top

The City's budget year runs from July 1st of the preceding year to June 30th of the given year. Also known as "Fiscal Year."

Business Back to Top

See Organization.

Campaign Contribution Back to Top

Data Source: The Campaign Contributions information source displays contributions made by organizations and individuals to candidates for municipal office (Mayor, Public Advocate, Comptroller, Borough President and City Council Member). This information is collected and maintained by the NYC Campaign Finance Board (CFB), which administers the Campaign Finance Program. A more comprehensive search function is available at CFB's Web site. Want more information about Campaign Contribution data?

Transaction Type: Monetary or in-kind support of a specific candidate for political office, made either directly by a Contributor or via an Intermediary (third party).

Client Back to Top

A person or organization that retains, employs, or designates a person or organization to carry on lobbying activities on its behalf.

Compensation Back to Top

Any salary, fee, gift, payment, benefit, loan, advance, or other object of value paid, owed, given or promised to the lobbyist. If lobbying services are rendered in a certain period, but are not paid until a later period, the amount of compensation owed and expenses incurred must be reported in the period services were rendered.

Competitive Sealed Bid Back to Top

An award method used for contracts and concessions in which sealed bids are publicly solicited. Contracts are awarded to the responsive and responsible vendor that agrees to provide the goods or services at the lowest price, or in the case of concessions, the highest amount of revenue to the City. Competitive sealed bids are not covered by LL 34.

Competitive Sealed Proposal Back to Top

Also known as a Request for Proposal (RFP), this award method is used when an agency must consider factors in addition to price, such as the vendor's experience and expertise. RFPs are most frequently used when procuring human services, professional services, and architecture/engineering services.

Concession Back to Top

An income generating contract for the private use of City-owned property to serve a public purpose, such as food sales, recreational activity, and parking lots.

Contract Back to Top

A written agreement for the provision of goods, services, or construction between the City and a vendor. For FMS data, contracts generally involve amounts greater than $100,000. For Doing Business data, all amounts greater than $5,000 are included.

Cookies Back to Top

A cookie is a very small text file placed on your hard drive by a Web Page server. It is essentially your identification card, and cannot be executed as code or deliver viruses. It is uniquely yours and can only be read by the server that gave it to you. Its purpose is to tell the server that you returned to that Web page. Cookies may be used to maintain data related to the user during navigation, possibly across multiple visits.

Discretionary Award Back to Top

Funding provided to specific vendors by City Council Members as part of the City's budget process and documented in Schedule C of the budget. The recipients are typically community-based human services organizations, cultural institutions, or other not-for-profit groups. Also known as a "line item award."

Doing Business (LL 34) Back to Top

An organization and its principal officers, owners, and managers are considered to be Doing Business with the City if the organization engages in certain business dealings defined by Local Law 34 of 2007. Lower municipal campaign contribution limits apply to individuals listed in the Doing Business Database, in order to avoid the appearance or actuality of improper influence in the City's selection of business partners and adoption of policy.

Business dealings covered by LL 34 include awards of and proposals for most contracts, franchises, concessions, grants, economic development agreements, pension fund investments, real property transactions, and discretionary land use approvals. Lobbying is also covered. Certain agencies and transactions are exempt from LL 34. For more information visit the MOCS LL 34 page.

NOTE: Organizations and individuals listed in VENDEX are sometimes referred to as "vendors that do business with the City of New York." This terminology should be not be confused with Doing Business as per LL 34.

Doing Business Start Date / End Date Back to Top

The dates during which a Person or Organization is covered by Local Law 34, are based on the start and end dates of covered transactions and activities. A blank end date indicates that the Person or Organization is currently Doing Business.

Election Cycle Back to Top

The election for which a contribution is designated. A standard election cycle is four years. For example, the 2009 cycle runs from January 2006 through January 2010 and covers the 2009 primary, runoff, and general elections. Special elections, elections for two-year City Council terms, and other off-year elections have their own election cycles. Contact the Campaign Finance Board for more information.

Entity Back to Top

See Organization.

Financial Management System (FMS) Back to Top

The Financial Management System (FMS) is the City's centralized accounting and budgeting system, jointly maintained by the Office of the Mayor and the Office of the Comptroller. It contains a variety of financial data, including the contract, franchises and concession information displayed on this site. Want more information about Financial Management System data?

Fiscal Year Back to Top

The City's fiscal year runs from July 1st of the preceding year to June 30th of the given year. Also known as Budget Year.

Franchise Back to Top

An income generating contract that confers the right to occupy or to use City property, such as streets or parks, to provide a public service, such as telecommunications or transportation.

Line Item Appropriation Back to Top

See Discretionary Award.

Lobbying/Lobbyist Back to Top

Under the lobbying laws of NYC, lobbying is the attempt to influence the following actions:

Approval or disapproval of a local law or resolution by the City Council or the Mayor;
Any determination by an elected City official or City employee concerning procurement of goods, services, or construction
Any determination by elected officials, the City planning commission, a borough president, a borough board, or a community board concerning zoning or the use, development, or improvement of real property subject to City regulation;
Any determination by an elected City official or any officer or City employee with respect to the terms of acquisition or disposition by the City of any interest in real property with respect to its licensing or permitting, or to a franchise, concession, or revocable consent;
An agency rule adoption, amendment, or rejection;
The outcome of a rate-making proceeding before an agency; or
The determination of a board or commission.

A lobbyist is a person or organization retained, employed, or designated by any client to engage in lobbying, and required by City law to file a Lobbyist registration.

For more information about lobbying and lobbyists, visit the Office of the City Clerk Lobbyist Bureau.

Local Law 34 (LL 34) Back to Top

See Doing Business.

Micro Purchase Back to Top

An award method used to quickly buy goods, services, or construction valued at up to $5,000. Micro purchases are not covered by LL 34.

Organization Back to Top

An entity reported by one of the data sources. Some entities may be individuals, such as consultants.

Procurement Back to Top

The City's purchasing process, which includes vendor selection, contract registration, payment, performance evaluation, and contract administration.

Registration Back to Top

Procurement: The process through which the City Comptroller encumbers funds, records all contracts and agreements, and tracks payments and revenue.

Lobbying: A Lobbyist must register upon earning, receiving, or expending $2,000. Enrollment and registration of lobbyists is managed by the City Clerk's Lobbying Bureau.

Related Entity Back to Top

An organization's affiliate, subsidiary, or parent. Related entity data is provided only by VENDEX.

Relationship / Role Back to Top

The position of a person within an organization, such as CEO, Lobbyist, Owner, etc.

Small Purchase Back to Top

An award method used for buying goods, services, and construction valued at up to $100,000.

Sole Source Back to Top

An award method used when only one vendor is available to provide the required goods or services.

Target Back to Top

Agencies and/or public officials that are targeted by a lobbyist during periods in registration years.

Transaction/Activity Back to Top

Transaction/Activity refers to a variety of monetary and non-monetary relationships and actions, depending on the data source:

For Campaign Contributions, they are contributions made by a Person or Organization to a candidate for City office.
For FMS or Discretionary Awards, they are financial transactions between the City and an Organization.
For e-Lobbyist, they are relationships between lobbyists and clients.
For Doing Business, they are financial and non-financial transactions between the City and an Organization. They can also be relationships between lobbyists and clients.

VENDEX (Vendor Information Exchange System) Back to Top

The City's Vendor Information Exchange System (VENDEX) displays detailed information on vendors that engage in certain business dealings with the City. City agencies use VENDEX as part of their determination that vendors have the necessary business integrity and financial capacity to do business with the City. By law, vendors under consideration for award of certain contracts must have complete VENDEX Questionnaires for their organization and principals on file. VENDEX is maintained by the Mayor's Office of Contract Services (MOCS). For additional information on the VENDEX system and questionnaires, see the VENDEX topic on the MOCS web site. Want more information about VENDEX data?

Vendor Back to Top

An Organization that provides goods or services to the City via a contract or other agreement.