NEW CITY – Rockland County
Government’s fiscal stress score has dropped by 21 points, and that
decline as rated by State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli’s Office has
all but removed the county from the list of most fiscally-stressed local
governments.
The higher the rating number, the more critical is a municipality’s
fiscal situation.
Rockland’s drop from 2012 and 2013 of 86.7 percent to 65.8 percent
in 2014 places the county less than one point from the rating of being
moderately fiscally stressed, said County Executive Edwin Day.
“We have a long way to travel, but to be at the bottom of the barrel
since the inception of the initiation of the stress level system and then
jumped over 20 points in the first year of our administration, it just
justifies the direction we are going in,” he said.
Day said he continues to “reduce costs through consolidation and
efficiency and rebuild our fund balance, while continuing to provide the
critical services local residents rely on.”
The county executive said the financial improvement has also been noted
by bond rating upgrades from Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s.
County Legislature Chairman Alden Wolfe also praised the improved status
in the DiNapoli financial stress ratings. “This is the result of
years of hard work and tough decisions, including obtaining deficit financing
and embracing a conservative approach to budgeting,” Wolfe said.
