This 2013 Annual Report on Local Governments highlights the difficult fiscal environment under which local officials are expected to fulfill their obligations to the people they serve, and outlines the steps OSC is taking to assist in these efforts.
This report highlights the many services that are available to local officials through our Division of Local Government and School Accountability, including audits, training and research.
This annual report highlights major issues facing local governments, building upon the studies and audits from the Division, which are increasingly directed at issues of statewide or regional concern, such as smart growth or the empire zones program.
In September 2015, OSC released the third annual set of Fiscal Stress Monitoring System (FSMS) scores for all municipalities that have fiscal years that operate on a calendar year basis. This includes all 57 counties outside of New York City, all 932 towns in the State, 44 cities and 10 villages – a total of 1,043 municipalities. Since the FSMS now encompasses three years of data for these "calendar year" municipalities, it is possible to start to discern trends in the financial performance of these local governments.
Three Years of School District Fiscal Stress Results: School Years 2012-13 to 2014-15 01/28/2016 - For school year 2014-15, OSC identified 82 school districts as experiencing some degree of fiscal stress: eight were in significant fiscal stress, 24 in moderate fiscal stress and 50 were susceptible to fiscal stress. The share of school districts experiencing fiscal stress has remained fairly stable over time. The tax cap continues to constrain districts’ ability to increase their property tax levies; for 2016-17 the growth factor will be 0.12 percent.
This report examines and summarizes notable trends in the fiscal scores of all New York counties, cities, towns and villages regardless of their fiscal year end dates, for the period 2013 to 2015.
This report highlights the Central New York region’s geography, demographics, municipalities, economy and labor markets, and includes a discussion about what the future may hold for the region.
