Ardsley and Tuckahoe Land on State 'Fiscal Stress' List

This story was updated at 1:20 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2015, to include comments from David Burke.

The villages of Tuckahoe and Ardsley are currently under “significant” and “moderate” fiscal stress, respectively, according to a new report released Monday by state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli.

The two are the only communities in Westchester County to make the list, which in total names 22 municipalities around the state that are in various degrees of fiscal stress.

“Although the number of fiscally stressed villages is small, these communities still grapple with the same financial pressures as our larger municipalities,” said DiNapoli in a statement. “By continuing to focus on sensible budgeting and long-term planning, local village officials can avoid fiscal jeopardy.”

DiNapoli’s office studied “indicators that include year-end fund balance, short-term borrowing and patterns of operating deficits” to determine the rankings. He said there are certain common denominators among all the communities on the list.

“Nearly all operate with both low fund balance and budget deficits. Nearly three-quarters of those in stress faced cash flow shortages, or liquidity issues, compared to just three percent of villages with no designation,” according to DiNapoli.

Ardsley Mayor Peter Porcino said in a statement to Patch that the village’s listing was a one-time thing and the situation has since been rectified.

“The moderate fiscal stress is related solely to a one-time decline in our general fund balance. There are no other factors that are out of balance,” said Porcino.

He added, “The decline in the fund balance arose primarily from under-budgeting of police pension costs, due to a few factors. The contribution to the police pension fund in the coming fiscal year will decline​ substantially, not only relieving the stress, but improving our fiscal situation.

“The other major unanticipated expense arose from litigation on the Rivertowns Square project. That litigation was settled, and payments will start to flow into the Village before the end of the fiscal year, again leading to a reversal of the factors leading to the ’stress.’”

Tuckahoe’s Village Administrator David Burke, told Patch that while the report “looks horrible” at the moment, it was based on a snapshot of the village’s finances on May 31 of last year, not more recently. The report looked at the village just after Tuckahoe had spent portions of the fund balance on projects, including renovations to Village Hall and the purchase of a new generator.

Steven Ecklond, Mayor of Tuckahoe, also offered his response to the comptroller’s report in a Letter to the Editor.

“The house is not falling down,” Burke said, adding that the village has already taken steps to replenish the fund balance by $60,000.

“We planned for this, in part because borrowing is inexpensive at the moment. So we planned to do these projects and then replenish the funds,” he added.

Photo: Ardsley Village Hall

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