Colonie is one of the most fiscally stressed municipalities in New York state, according to a report conducted by State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli. The news has also drawn the first political pot shot of in this election year.
DiNapoli released fiscal stress scores of the state’s 1,043 counties, towns, cities and villages ending their fiscal years on Dec. 31, 2012. Six areas, including the Town of Colonie, were rated as being the most stressed. Using DiNapoli’s new Fiscal Stress Monitoring System, which looks at 23 financial and environmental indicators, Colonie was rated at 65.8 percent. Monroe County took the highest score, at 82.1 percent.
The monitoring system rates factors like fund balance, operating deficit and cash ratio on a scale from zero to three, with three being the worst. Over the 2012 fiscal year, Colonie received a rating of three for both its fund balance and cash ratio, or cash on hand to pay liabilities. The scores each carry their own weight. Fund balance is the most heavily weighed at 50 percent of the total score.
“I don’t think this comes as a surprise to at least the elected officials in Colonie, but maybe more to the residents,” said Brian Butry, a spokesman for DiNapoli.
The system also looks at demographic factors, including population changes, child poverty rates, median age and property value changes. With these indicators, Colonie received a score of one for a change in child poverty rate and a two for change in property value over a four-year average.
Town Supervisor Paula Mahan said she wasn’t surprised by the results, but added the system is unfair in focusing so heavily on fund balance. The town had a $21 million deficit in 2008, and Mahan said it was important to eliminate that before building up reserves.
“We are headed in the direction the New York State Comptroller wants us to be headed in, but as he knows and his office understands, this is a process and we are at the stage of building reserves and it’s going to take time to get to that point. We’re committed to that,” Mahan said. “We have and we continue to be extremely conservative. We count every penny.”
Mahan said the Town of Colonie has been working under a 10-year financial plan, now in its sixth year, and it will be a “long-term process” to build reserves. The town finished 2011 with a $700,000 fund balance, the first positive fund balance since 2005. Mahan said she believes the town’s 2012 audit will find just over a $1 million fund balance.
“Having a low tax rate and being able to manage our services and building our reserves, I definitely think we’re moving in a positive direction,” Mahan said.
Mahan said there are “so many good things” in the Town of Colonie the monitoring system didn’t highlight, including an “excellent tax rate, quality of services” and safety.
DiNapoli said his monitoring system is supposed to serve as a wake-up call for the municipalities.
“I am confident this new early warning system will motivate elected leaders and their constituents to work together to help their municipality become more efficient, more creative, more forward-thinking and more effective with the resources that are available,” DiNapoli said in a statement.
Todd Drake, Mahan’s Republican challenger in the upcoming election, said he believes the comptroller’s report was “alarming,” and said Colonie “is heading down a path of fiscal disaster.”
“That is why I believe we need to create new sources of revenue, along with high-paying jobs, that can effectively address the costs and needs associated with a growing populating and mounting obligations,” Drake said in a statement.
Drake specifically criticized the town’s landfill deal and a one-time tax, calling such measures short-term fixes. He said working on an effective economic development plan, including redeveloping Route 7 and Route 5 corridors, could help strengthen the town’s financial situation.
Mahan, on other hand, said she doesn’t plan on letting DiNapoli’s report affect her campaign plans.
“As far as the campaign goes, that’s up to the voters,” Mahan said. “Do they like the direction the town is going in now, or were they more comfortable when the town was placed in devastating financial situation and there were a lot of things to be cleaned up?”