Joseph Spector

Albany Bureau Chief

ALBANY - Monroe County topped a state list Tuesday. But not in a good way.

The county had the highest "fiscal stress" of any municipality in New York, a report from Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli found.

The report put the county's fiscal stress — based on nine fiscal and economic factors — at 78.8 percent, saying it has "significant stress" and the highest of any local government in New York.

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The finding was nothing new for the second largest upstate county: Monroe County is the only municipality listed in “significant” stress every year since the monitoring system was set up in 2013.

The county disputed its ranking.

"These so-called 'fiscal stress' reports are an insult to local taxpayers," county spokesman Jess Sleezer said in a statement.

"Albany controls over 80 percent of Monroe County’s budget through mandated spending every year — there is no better definition of 'fiscal stress' than that."

Sleezer countered the county has held the property-tax rate flat for more than a decade, its bond rating is up, and its "fiscal management is stronger than ever."

DiNapoli said the goal is to help counties avoid future financial problems as they grapple with limited revenue and growing costs.

Overall, DiNapoli said, 27 municipalities across New York were deemed fiscally stressed — a review his office does annually to warn local governments about potential problems with their books.

The number of fiscally-stressed places this year is the lowest since DiNapoli started the "early-warning system" in 2013.

“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 statement.

“Looking to the future, local officials should exercise fiscal caution through sensible spending decisions, realistic revenue projections and proper long-term planning.”

Based on their 2016 financial reports, the counties of Broome and Monroe, and the cities of Albany and Watervliet had the highest fiscal stress, DiNapoli said.

That was followed by the 13 communities with “moderate fiscal stress.” They were Erie, Franklin, Nassau, Suffolk and Westchester counties; the cities of Fulton, Glen Cove, Niagara Falls, Ogdensburg and Poughkeepsie; and the towns of Cherry Valley, Oswego and Parish.

An additional 10 municipalities have been listed as “susceptible to fiscal stress.” They included St. Lawrence County; the city of Port Jervis; and the towns of Colonie, Constable, Elmira, Evans, German Flatts, Mansfield, Oxford and Saugerties.

Since the system started, more than one-third of all municipalities in a fiscal stress category were on Long Island or in the mid-Hudson Valley.

The monitoring system evaluates local governments on nine financial indicators, such as their cash-on-hand and operating deficits, as well as their local economies.

To check the stress of a municipality, visit the Comptroller's Office database at: wwe1.osc.state.ny.us/localgov/fiscalmonitoring/fsms.cfm