New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli issues fiscal stress scores for upstate political subdivisions of the State

New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli issues fiscal stress scores for upstate political subdivisions of the State
Monitoring System Has Evaluated Nearly 2,300 Local Governments

On May 2, 2014 New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli announced fiscal stress rankings for several upstate cities. With today’s announcement, DiNapoli’s office has completed the initial scoring for all local governments and school districts in New York.

The creation of the ‘early warning’ monitoring system is the centerpiece of the Comptroller’s fiscal stress initiative. The Fiscal Stress Monitoring System is based on financial information provided to DiNapoli’s office by local communities and uses financial indicators that include year-end fund balance, cash position and patterns of operating deficits, to create an overall fiscal stress score. The system uses a 100-point scale to classify whether a municipality is in significant fiscal stress (65-100%), in moderate fiscal stress (55-65%), is susceptible to fiscal stress (45-55%), or no designation (below 45%).

Since implementing the system in 2013, the Comptroller’s staff has evaluated the fiscal condition of nearly 2,300 municipalities and school districts across the state.To date, DiNapoli’s monitoring system has identified a total of 142 municipalities in some level of fiscal stress. This includes 16 counties, 18 towns, five cities, 16 villages and 87 school districts.

The fiscal stress scores for 15 cities and villages with fiscal year ends that range from March 31, 2013 to July 3, 2013 announced on May 2, 2014 includes the cities of Batavia (0%), Buffalo (15.8%), Corning (15.8%), Olean (11.7%), Rochester (20.4%), Syracuse (34.2%) and Watertown (9.6%). These municipalities were each classified in the no designation category.

To search for a specific local government’s fiscal stress scores, visit:
http://wwe1.osc.state.ny.us/localgov/fiscalmonitoring/fsi1a.cfm

For an overview of Comptroller DiNapoli’s Fiscal Monitoring System, visit:
http://www.osc.state.ny.us/localgov/fiscalmonitoring/index.htm
.