Albany susceptible to fiscal stress, according to State Comptroller
A total of 20 local governments in New York State ended their fiscal year in 2021, designated in some form of fiscal stress, which is down from 30 years ago. State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli released the fiscal stress scores for municipalities twice a year, excluding New York City, and the scores cover all counties and towns, 44 cities, and 11 villages.
ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- A total of 20 local governments in New York State ended their fiscal year in 2021, designated in some form of fiscal stress, which is down from 30 years ago. State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli released the fiscal stress scores for municipalities twice a year, excluding New York City, and the scores cover all counties and towns, 44 cities, and 11 villages.
“The infusion of aid from the federal government and robust local sales tax revenues helped to put local governments on solid fiscal ground in 2021,” DiNapoli said. “Still, municipalities shouldn’t assume this will last. Inflation remains a major concern and sales tax growth is slowing in many areas. With the end of extraordinary federal aid, and a possible recession looming, local governments need to plan carefully to avoid fiscal cliffs in the future.”
DiNapoli's reports this time around have found that Poughkeepsie is susceptible to significant fiscal stress, and Albany is susceptible to fiscal stress. Under the last report in April, no municipalities were at risk of significant fiscal stress. According to the 2021 year results report, the Fiscal Stress Monitoring System (FSMS) calculates and publishes a fiscal stress score annually for each county, city, town, village, and school district in the State outside of New York City. Data is collected from the Office of the New York State Comptroller (OSC), and points are "assigned based on a set of individual indicators and combined to calculate one overall fiscal stress score, with a higher score reflecting a higher level of stress," according to the report.