On September 26,
2023, New York State's Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli announced latest fiscal stress scores reflecting findings contained in 10 years of his fiscal monitoring system data.
Comptroller DiNapoli reported "A total of 14 local governments in New
York State ended
their fiscal year 2022 with a fiscal stress designation, down from 20 a year
ago". Of the 14, nine were
announced on September 25, 2023. These determinations were based on the State Comptroller’s
Fiscal Stress Monitoring System (FSMS) scores released on September 25, 2023 and highlighted in
a report. In particular, the Comptroller noted "many municipalities benefited from federal aid and rising sales tax revenues in 2022".
DiNapoli
launched FSMS in 2013 to evaluate local governments’ financial indicators,
including year-end fund balance, operating deficits, cash-on-hand, short-term
borrowing, fixed costs and other factors. The system’s fiscal stress scores
provide an early warning to local officials about potential fiscal issues and
give the public insight into their communities’ financial health.
“Our
fiscal stress early warning system identifies potential financial problems for
local governments so they can take corrective action to avoid problems down the
road,” DiNapoli said. “The fact that fewer local governments were in fiscal
stress in fiscal year 2022 was largely due to the infusion of aid from the
American Rescue Plan Act and sales tax revenue growth. Sales tax collections
have leveled off in recent months and federal dollars are being spent down, so
localities should plan their budgets cautiously and accordingly.”
DiNapoli
releases fiscal stress scores for municipalities (excluding New York
City) twice a year. The scores announced
today are for local governments operating on a calendar year basis for fiscal
year 2022, covering all counties and towns, 44 cities, and 11 villages. This
round of scoring identified nine local governments in fiscal stress, including
five cities and four towns. In March, DiNapoli announced that five local governments with non-calendar
fiscal years were designated in stress.
The
Town of Centerville in Allegany County was the
only one in the highest-ranking designation of “significant stress.”
The City of Little Falls (Herkimer County) and the Village of Coxsackie (Greene County) were in
“moderate stress,” the next highest ranking, followed by the cities of Albany, Cortland, Glen Cove, Poughkeepsie, the towns
of Dayton, Mohawk and
Yates, and the villages of Canajoharie, Chateaugay, Huntington Bay, and
Mohawk, which were designated as “susceptible to fiscal stress.”
“With
the resources provided by the Office of New York State Comptroller Tom
DiNapoli, like the fiscal stress monitoring system, Westchester County has
successfully steered toward fiscal stability,” said Westchester County
Executive George Latimer. “We inherited a challenging financial situation, but
with the support of these critical resources we bettered out footing. Today we
can proudly say we have improved our bond rating, lowered taxes and bolstered
our rainy-day fund – all while cutting taxes.”
“Our
New York State Comptroller continues to provide valuable fiscal guidance and
assistance to municipalities throughout our state,” Colonie Town Supervisor
Peter G. Crummey said. “In fact, last year, in my first year as Colonie town
supervisor, I implemented the first ever fund balance policy which was a long-time
recommendation of Comptroller DiNapoli. As a result of implementing such
recommendation, in addition to other fiscally prudent actions, our town’s bond
rating and fiscal health continues to rise.”
“When
State Comptroller DiNapoli introduced the FSMS we were a little hesitant at the
county level. We had just come out of the Great Recession. It was a very rocky
time in state and local finances,” said New York State Association of Counties
Executive Director Stephen Acquario. “But let’s give credit where credit is
due. The Comptroller took a chance on this new program. He cares about local
governments and our fiscal condition was compromised. The fiscal condition of
our local governments means something to him as the state’s chief auditor. When
we look back at why he did this, it was for the betterment of the state.”
"For
the past decade State Comptroller
DiNapoli's Fiscal Stress Monitoring System has played a valuable role in
objectively measuring and identifying municipal fiscal stress,” New York State
Conference of Mayors Executive Director Barbara Van Epps said. “With the
release of this year's report, the Comptroller wisely warns of impending fiscal
stress due to the recent leveling off of sales tax collections and the spending
down of one-time federal aid. These negative trends highlight the need for the
Governor and State Legislature to provide local governments with the assistance
and tools that they need in the 2024-25 state budget."
Along
with the scores released today, DiNapoli issued a report summarizing fiscal
year end 2022 fiscal stress scoring results for calendar year and non-calendar
year municipalities, including designations by class, changes to fiscal stress
indicators and issues of concern, among other things. Included in the report is
an analysis of the 10 years of data collected since the launch of the system,
highlighting lessons learned over the past decade.
An
online interactive visualization released with the report lets users select a
county on a map and display fiscal stress information for all local governments
within the county, including filing status, stress designations and scores,
from fiscal years 2013 to 2022.
Among
the report’s findings:
- As was the case a year ago, none of
the reporting counties were designated in any fiscal stress category in
fiscal year 2022. While the number of towns designated in stress grew
slightly, less than 1% were designated, second only to counties.
- The number of cities and villages in
stress designations decreased in fiscal year 2022 compared to 2021. For
cities, 11% were designated in some level of stress, down from 16% in
2021. Just 1.1% of villages were designated in stress, down from 2.2% in
2021.
- The number of local governments that
triggered a fiscal stress indicator score was down for all five categories
from fiscal year 2021 to 2022 after already declining the prior year. The
percentage of local governments showing low fund balance in 2022 was 6.9%,
down from 7.5% in 2021.
- Nearly 90% of all local governments
that have received a fiscal stress score from fiscal years 2013 to 2022
have never been designated in stress.
- A total of 20 local governments have
spent five or more years in a fiscal stress designation from fiscal years
2013 to 2022.
DiNapoli’s
report also noted that the number of local governments failing to file their
annual financial reports in time to receive a fiscal stress score has risen
over the past several years, up from 121 in fiscal year 2013 to 209 in 2022.
When a municipality doesn’t file, it leaves local officials and taxpayers in
the dark about possible financial problems. DiNapoli’s office will undertake
targeted outreach and training to help local governments comply with the law
and bring their financial reporting up to date.
Lists
Municipalities in Stress for Fiscal Year Ending 2022
Municipalities Who Did Not File or Designated
Inconclusive
Excel Spreadsheet
Detailed List of All Municipalities in State and Fiscal
Stress Scores
Report
Fiscal Stress Monitoring System Municipalities: Fiscal
Year 2022 Results
Online Interactive Visualization
Fiscal Stress Monitoring System 10 Year Statistics
Online Search
Fiscal Stress Monitoring System
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[OATH] Administrative Law Judge [ALJ] Kara J. Miller considered the Agency's request that a community coordinator [CC] charged with violating a previously
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