As mayors from the state’s largest cities descend on Albany to discuss how Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s $142.6 billion budget proposal impacts them, Comptroller Tom DiNapoli announced today that his fiscal monitoring system has been finalized.

The monitoring system is designed to sound an early warning that a local government is ready to fall off its own fiscal cliff, with a combination of factors being taken into consideration in order to classify the financial situations of the municipalities.

“Many local officials have made it clear this monitoring system will play a helpful role in highlighting the financial trends in communities across New York,” said DiNapoli. “By presenting a realistic picture of the economic and budgetary challenges facing our local governments, corrective actions can be taken when appropriate to avoid a fiscal crisis. It also provides the public an objective analysis they can use to participate in local financial decision-making.”

The factors includes cash-on-hand, persistent operating deficits and trends in population and tax assessments.

DiNapoli’s office will use data from more than 3,000 local governments in the state in order calculate their fiscal situation. The governments will be classified as either “significant fiscal stress,” “susceptible to fiscal stress,” or “not in fiscal stress.”

The monitoring system will first analyze localities with the fiscal year ending Dec. 31, and later look at villages and school districts, which operate under different calendars for budgeting.

 

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