New York state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli’s office has released its latest round of fiscal stress scores for local governments. The review found only a handful of local governments to be in a form of fiscal stress, after years of federal pandemic aid had boosted the bottom lines of many municipal budgets.
“Federal pandemic relief packages provided significant aid to local governments over the past three years, helping to balance their books during unprecedented circumstances,” said DiNapoli.
However, the funding is now winding down, and local officials will have to closely monitor their financial conditions. DiNapoli encouraged local governments to use his office’s self-assessment tool to help them budget and avoid potential pitfalls in the coming years.
The review, which was conducted for local governments with fiscal years between Feb. 28 and July 31, included the big four cities outside of New York City: Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, and Yonkers.
However, there were 95 local governments that did not submit data to receive a score, representing a 30% increase from a year ago.
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