New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli releases local government "fiscal stress" reports

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New York State municipalities continued to benefit from federal aid and rising sales tax revenues in 2023.

A total of 14 local governments in New York state ended their fiscal year 2023 with a fiscal stress designation, the same as a year ago, according to a report released on a report released  October 3, 2024 by New York State's Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli. These designations were based on the State Comptroller’s Fiscal Stress Monitoring System (FSMS) scores, including eight that were released on October 3, 2024.

“The number of local governments designated in fiscal stress fell to historically low levels over the past two years,” DiNapoli said. “At the same time, an increasing number of municipalities have failed to file required financial data with my office, diminishing the transparency and accountability that residents expect and deserve. An inability to file timely financial reports may be an indicator of larger fiscal problems, and closer scrutiny of these localities may be needed.”

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 fiscal issues and give the public insight into their communities’ financial health.

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 2023, covering all counties and towns, 44 cities and 13 villages. This round of scoring designated eight local governments in fiscal stress, including three cities and five towns. In March, DiNapoli announced that six local governments with non-calendar fiscal years were designated in stress. School districts are also scored in January.

For 2023, the City of Little Falls in Herkimer County and the Village of Saugerties in Ulster County (designated in March) were the only two in the highest-ranking designation of “significant stress.” The City of Albany (Albany), the Village of Coxsackie (Greene) and the towns of Bennington (Wyoming), West Turin (Lewis), and Yates (Orleans) were designated in “moderate stress,” the next highest ranking, followed by the villages of Sackets Harbor (Jefferson), Chateaugay (Franklin), South Dayton (Cattaraugus), and Whitehall (Washington), the towns of Philipstown (Putnam) and Schroeppel (Oswego), and the City of Poughkeepsie (Dutchess), which were designated as “susceptible to fiscal stress.”

Along with the scores released today, DiNapoli released a report summarizing local fiscal year end 2023 fiscal stress scoring results for calendar year and non-calendar year municipalities, including designations by class and issues of concern, among other things.

Among the report’s findings:

A total of six local governments were in a stress category in both fiscal years 2022 and 2023, including the cities of Albany, Little Falls, and Poughkeepsie.

Additionally, five local governments (the cities of Albany and Poughkeepsie, the villages of Chateaugay and Coxsackie, and the Town of Yates) have been designated in a fiscal stress category for at least the last three years. Poughkeepsie has received a fiscal stress designation every year since FSMS began.

As was the case for the past two years, none of the reporting counties were designated in any fiscal stress category in fiscal year 2023. While the number of towns designated in stress grew slightly, less than 1% were designated.

The number of cities in stress designations decreased in fiscal year 2023 compared to 2022. For cities, 6.8% were designated in some level of stress, down from 11.1% in 2022.

Just 1.4% of villages were designated in stress, slightly up from 1.1% in 2022.

DiNapoli’s report found 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. In fiscal year 2017, 122 local governments did not file in time to receive a score. By fiscal year 2022, 209 did not file in time to receive a score and by 2023, the number had grown to 264.

When a municipality doesn’t file, it leaves local officials and taxpayers in the dark about possible fiscal problems and may indicate a lack of proper financial management. The Comptroller’s monitoring system identifies potential problems for local communities so they can take corrective action to avoid future financial troubles. DiNapoli is undertaking 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 2023

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 2023 Results

 

Online Interactive Visualization

Fiscal Stress Monitoring System Statistics