KENT- Putnam County’s Town of Kent has been designated to be under fiscal stress according to a report released by New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli.
DiNapoli releases fiscal stress scores for municipalities, excluding New York City, twice a year. This round of scoring named 15 local governments in fiscal stress, including eight cities, six towns, and one village.
DiNapoli said: “Local governments are facing increased fiscal pressures due to a combination of the end of federal pandemic aid, higher inflation, rising operating costs and moderating sales tax revenue growth. Local officials should be pragmatic when planning future budgets, and I encourage them to use information and tools we provide to help them make prudent financial decisions.”
Kent Town Supervisor Jaime McGlasson Tuesday thanked DiNapoli for his concern. She said the prime reason Kent finds itself in the current predicament was that “former administrations did not raise taxes for years. Additionally, my predecessor failed to hire a full-time accountant as a way of saving money. We currently are trying to catch up on our paperwork.”
McGlasson said her top priority is to “restore Kent’s fiscal health without raising taxes so sharply that residents can no longer afford them. Taxes rose dramatically last year, and another increase is likely this year unless we use the fund balance to close the budget gap which we are not planning to do.”
McGlasson added the town’s fiscal crisis was not her fault: “I have not mismanaged funds. It’s unfortunate. We are catching up from former administrations not doing the right thing.”
In addition to Kent, DiNapoli reported the cities of Albany, Dunkirk, and Little Falls, as well as the Village of New Hempstead in Rockland County, were designated in the highest-ranking category of “significant stress.”
The City of Poughkeepsie was designated in “moderate fiscal stress,” along with the towns of Minden, North Greenbush, and Ramapo in Rockland.
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