New York county and municipal government officials had reactions from surprise to frustration after New York Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli placed their governments on a
"I'm a bit surprised that we'd be number three [on the list]," said Billy Jones, chairman of the Franklin County board of legislators. "We don't have the debt load or tax levy that other nearby communities have."
The list is based on DiNapoli's review of financial and demographic information from 1,043 counties, cities and towns.
DiNapoli found that six of the communities were in significant stress, six were in moderate stress, and 12 were susceptible to fiscal stress. All communities were scored from 0% to 100%, with the higher percentages indicating higher stress.
DiNapoli said the communities with significant stress are, from highest stress score to lowest: Monroe County, Ramapo, Franklin County, Genesee Falls, Niagara Falls, and Colonie.
"The challenges facing local governments have reached a critical point and these fiscal stress scores should serve as a wake-up call," DiNapoli said. "I am confident this new early warning system will motivate elected leaders and their constituents to work together to help their municipality become more efficient, more creative, more forward-thinking and more effective with the resources that are available."
The state should help locals fix problems instead of pointing fingers at them, Monroe County executive Maggie Brooks said.
"The comptroller has confirmed what everyone already knows: crushing state mandates are threatening the fiscal stability of local governments," she said. "Using Mr. DiNapoli's math, Monroe County would need to raise local taxes by $100 million to stay off of his list while paying for the mandates that account for 83% of our budget. Clearly, that is not an option. If Mr. DiNapoli is serious about solving fiscal stress, he must work with his colleagues in Albany to fix the mandate problem."
DiNapoli said that his office was still reviewing 18 communities and expected to have ratings of them soon. A spokesman said the office would put out an update of the list in three or four weeks that would include some of these 18. The communities under review include Erie County, Nassau County, Rockland County, Glenn Falls and Poughkeepsie.
DiNapoli said that 124 communities have not filed information to his office for the rating. These include Westchester County, Binghamton and Ithaca.
Later this year DiNapoli plans to release a separate scoring list for school districts and cities and villages whose fiscal years end at some other point than Dec. 31. All the communities included in Tuesday's list have fiscal years ending on Dec. 31.
Ramapo in Rockland County released a statement titled, "NYS Comptroller Furnished Misleading Information on Town Finances."
The city submitted to the comptroller what was described to it as an annual update document without it being reviewed by the director or deputy director of the finance department or town board, Ramapo claims.
"The report is based on incomplete, unaudited and misleading information provided by a now suspended finance department employee facing disciplinary charges for attempting to falsify town records of her paramour and lying under oath," Ramapo claims. "In an apparent attempt to embarrass the town, she failed to disclose to the comptroller over $3.5 million in anticipated revenue. Her conduct was discovered too late to correct the comptroller's report. When the town's certified audit is released shortly, it is expected to confirm the town's continued fiscal health."
The comptroller's office responded, "[We] did a thorough review of the financial information submitted by local governments, including comparing prior year submissions, before giving each municipality a fiscal score. While the information submitted by the town of Ramapo was certified by the supervisor prior to submission to our office, we will take any new information they provide us into account."
The suspended finance department employee declined to comment to The Bond Buyer.
DiNapoli's report appears to be the least of Ramapo's problems.
On May 15, FBI agents entered Ramapo town hall to gather physical and electronic evidence. While the FBI has declined to provide a reason, Michael Castelluccio, the editor of the web site for the group Preserve Ramapo, who has been providing the FBI with evidence, said that the authorities may be looking at whether Ramapo's Local Development Corporation falsely claimed assets to back the refinancing of bonds.
In related news on Tuesday, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced agreement on legislation to establish a Financial Restructuring Board for Local Governments. The board would provide plans to local governments struggling with financial problems. Local governments that turned to it and accepted the board's plan would be contractually obligated to follow the plan.
The board would also offer a binding arbitration process for municipal governments, police, fire, or deputy sheriff unions, if both the governments and unions were to agree to use the board's arbitration.
