Three local governments in the Hudson Valley are under significant financial stress, according to data and analysis released by state Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli”™s office.
Rockland County, the village of Suffern and the city of Poughkeepsie were all labeled as being under significant financial stress based on 2013 financial information provided to DiNapoli”™s office by local governments as of Aug. 29. The data analyzed include only municipalities with fiscal years ending Dec. 31, 2013. Statewide, all counties and towns, 44 cities and 10 villages have a calendar-based fiscal year ”“ a total of 1,043 communities.
“For the second straight year, our ”˜early warning”™ system has identified municipalities from every region of this state that are experiencing some level of fiscal stress,” DiNapoli said. “Last year, I implemented this system to provide New Yorkers with an objective analysis to help them understand the economic and budgetary challenges facing their communities. These fiscal scores should serve as a starting point for frank discussions at the local level so actions can be taken before a fiscal crisis develops.”
DiNapoli”™s monitoring system evaluates local governments on 23 financial and environmental indicators and creates an overall fiscal condition score. Indicators include cash on hand and patterns of operating deficits, together with broader demographic information like population trends, poverty and unemployment. The report also found nearly all communities listed in fiscal stress have low fund balances (100 percent) and operating deficits (97 percent).
The largest discrepancy between stressed and nonstressed municipalities was the entity”™s cash position ”“ the ability to fund operations from available cash. More than 82 percent of stressed communities experienced low liquidity in 2013 versus only 4 percent for those with no stress designation.
The village of Kiryas Joel in Orange County was listed as being under moderate fiscal stress. No municipalities in Westchester County were found to be under fiscal stress, though the villages of Buchanan, Dobbs Ferry, Sleepy Hollow, Tuckahoe, the coterminous village and town of Mount Kisco, the towns of North Castle, Scarsdale and Rye, and the city of Yonkers did not file their annual financial report or reported data that was inconclusive for the purposes of the comptroller’s report.
