Rockland Still on NY List of Most Fiscally Stressed Governments

NEW CITY, NY ― Rockland County Executive Ed Day said that the report on fiscally stressed municipalities released this week by the state Comptroller does not provide a total picture of the county’s improving finances.

“It is no secret that I inherited a county that was the most fiscally stressed county in the entire State, with a fiscal score of 86.7 percent; a bond rating one step above junk status; and just $42,000 away from default in January 2014," Day said in a written statement. "In my first year, we went to being less than a percentage point (65.8 percent) away from coming off the significant stress list completely, a major accomplishment and looked forward to coming off the list completely for this year.

"Unfortunately, and due to financial accounting adjustments related to the closure of the Summit Park Hospital/Nursing Home, we received the same score as the previous year. The Comptroller’s report does not distinguish these onetime adjustments and therefore did not reflect our actual operating results for 2015. I am happy to report that our Finance Commissioner, after contacting the Comptroller’s Office, and making the necessary adjustments for the closure of the Summit Park Hospital/ Nursing Home, determined our revised score should be 56.2 percent. This new score will appear in our next review in 2017.”

This is the fourth year Thomas DiNapoli’s office has evaluated the financial stability of local governments. This year's list of most stressed includes 10 counties, 10 cities and 20 towns.

“The challenges facing local governments across the state are real,” said DiNapoli about the report. “Our monitoring system has shown that for those localities experiencing financial hardship, it can be difficult to overcome challenges that have been years in the making. Local officials should be carefully examining their scores and using this system to determine how they can budget prudently and develop realistic long-term financial plans.”

The Fiscal Stress Monitoring System and resulting fiscal stress designations rely on data from annual financial reports submitted by local governments to the Office of the State Comptroller.

• Check the status of an individual municipality
• Printer-friendly version of Municipalities in Stress