Long Beach Under 'Moderate' Fiscal Stress, Comptroller Says

Though Long Beach has been trying to improve its financial situation over the last few years, a Fiscal Stress Monitoring report released by state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli on Wednesday said the city is still under fiscal stress.

The report, part of the Fiscal Stress Monitoring System, had the fewest number of municipalities on it since it was launched in 2013. However, the City of Long Beach, as well as Nassau County, were both listed as having "moderate stress."

"Although the number of local governments designated as fiscally stressed has declined noticeably, there are still too many communities struggling with chronic budget strain," DiNapoli said in a release. "Looking to the future, local officials should exercise fiscal caution through sensible spending decisions, realistic revenue projections and proper long-term planning."

The latest round of scores is based on 2016 financial information provided to DiNapoli’s office by local governments as of Aug. 31, 2017. Long Beach has been on the list longer, since its fiscal year ended before the calendar year.

Long Beach's fiscal stress score has fluctuated over the years. While the city received a score of 58.3 percent this year, it was down to 33.8 percent last year. For the 2014 fiscal year, the score was 57.5 percent.

DiNapoli’s monitoring system evaluates local governments on nine financial indicators and creates a fiscal stress score. Indicators assess fund balance, cash-on-hand and patterns of operating deficits. The system also evaluates information such as population trends, poverty and unemployment to help describe the environment in which these local governments operate. Each municipality receives a separate "environmental" score based on this assessment.

More than one-third of all municipalities in a fiscal stress category are located in the downstate regions of Long Island and the Mid-Hudson Valley.

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