Comptroller plans monitoring system for local governments

New York Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli released a final version of plans today for a statewide local government fiscal monitoring system.

The system aims to identify local governments and school districts that are being strained financially. It will have the comptroller’s office calculate a score for roughly 2,300 school districts and municipalities in New York. They will be labeled as being in significant fiscal stress, in moderate fiscal stress, susceptible to fiscal stress, or not in fiscal stress.

“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,” DiNapoli said in a news release. “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.”

Plans also call for the fiscal monitoring system to look at nine financial indicators like cash on hand and patterns of operating deficits. And it will include demographic information — population trends and tax-assessment growth.

The comptroller’s office wants to offer assistance to financially strained municipalities. That assistance is set to include budget reviews, technical financial help, financial management training, and help with multi-year financial planning.

The plans for the system come after DiNapoli’s office started work on it in September. More than 85 officials from local governments, school districts, and affiliated organizations gave feedback during a comment period, and the system is slated to start by analyzing local governments with fiscal years that ended Dec. 31, 2012.

Contact Seltzer at rseltzer@cnybj.com