ALBANY, NY (WUTR/WFXV/WPNY) – New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli released his annual Fiscal Stress scores for villages and some cities on Wednesday, March 22.

The scores, which have been implemented since 2012, assesses levels of fiscal stress by using indicators such as year-end fund balance, short-term cash-flow borrowing and operating deficits. An environmental score is also calculated to provide a look into challenges that might come up for municipalities in the future, which includes factors such as unemployment rates or poverty rates in the municipality. These numbers allow local governments to identify budgetary issues and prioritize the needs of their communities while staying within their budgets.

In the Comptroller’s latest report, which included village and some city fiscal reports from 2022, only five villages were found to be in fiscal stress, including the village of Mohawk in Herkimer County. The village was found to be “susceptible to fiscal stress,” which meant the village had a fiscal stress score of 45 or more. The village had a fiscal score of 45.8, and an environmental score of 30, which put them in the “susceptible” category for environmental factors as well.

The city of Utica received a zero score for fiscal stress. However, the city also received a score of 43.3 for environmental stress, putting them in the “Moderate Environmental Stress” category.

The city of Rome was not included in the report.

At the same time, 95 municipalities did not file their reports in time to receive a score, an increase of 30% from last year. This includes the villages of Frankfort, Herkimer, Middleville and Dolgeville in Herkimer County. In Otsego County, the villages of Gilbertsville and Unadilla did not report in time, while in Oneida County, the villages of Holland Patent and Remsen failed to file.

The Comptroller is scheduled to release another report, which will include all counties and towns, most cities — including the City of Rome — and a few villages, in September.