Westchester, Nassau, Suffolk Counties Put on ‘Significant Fiscal Stress’ List

ALBANY—New York City suburbs Westchester, Nassau and Suffolk were among four counties statewide to be characterized as under “significant fiscal stress” according to a report released on Tuesday by State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli.

The State Comptroller’s Annual Fiscal Stress Monitoring System report designated 25 municipalities statewide as being fiscally stressed. Also making the significant fiscal stress list were upstate Monroe County, as well as the cities of Niagara Falls, Poughkeepsie and Watervliet and the towns of German Flatts, Oyster Bay and Parish.

The stress monitoring system report results were mixed with 10 counties, six cities and nine towns listed in stress, which marked the third-straight decline in the overall number of municipalities listed in stress. The number of local governments considered to be in “significant fiscal stress,” however, more than doubled over the prior year.

“Fewer local governments are considered fiscally stressed, but those with persistent financial problems are struggling to stay out of the red and fix their problems,” says State Comptroller DiNapoli. “While the results may be encouraging in some areas, there are municipalities that should focus on near-term financial risks and implement more prudent long-term planning.”

The latest round of scores was based on 2017 financial information provided to DiNapoli’s office by local governments as of Sept. 5, 2018 and includes only municipalities with fiscal years ending on Dec. 31, 2017. In New York, all counties and towns, 44 cities and 10 villages have a calendar-based fiscal year – a total of 1,043 communities.

Six communities have been listed in the second-highest category of “moderate fiscal stress.” This includes: Franklin and Rockland counties and the cities of Albany and Plattsburgh.

An additional nine municipalities were listed as “susceptible to fiscal stress.” These are: the counties of Broome, Clinton, Erie and Onondaga; the city of Fulton; and the towns of Clarkstown, Covert, Dayton and Elmira.

Westchester County Executive George Latimer said in response to the State Comptroller putting the county on the “significant fiscal stress” list, “It has been apparent to objective observers that Westchester County is facing serious fiscal problems due to recent past fiscal policies; the Comptroller’s fiscal stress report points out in brief what we expect will be spelled out in greater detail when the results of their five-year audit (2013-2017) of Westchester County is released.”

Latimer in a prepared statement clearly put the blame on the former administration of Robert Astorino for the county’s current fiscal woes. “For almost a decade, the prior leadership used the reserve fund, one-shot revenues and drastic staff reductions to deliver on an ideological commitment rather than prudently developing a steady stream of revenue,” he says. “It is unsustainable to have an unrealistic revenue policy—as the Comptroller’s report now points out.  This problem didn’t happen overnight, and it isn’t going to be fixed overnight.”