{"id":7804,"date":"2013-05-02T12:04:24","date_gmt":"2013-05-02T16:04:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/inbox\/?p=7804"},"modified":"2013-05-02T12:04:25","modified_gmt":"2013-05-02T16:04:25","slug":"dinapoli-st-lawrence-county-in-trouble-needs-a-financial-plan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/inbox\/2013\/05\/02\/dinapoli-st-lawrence-county-in-trouble-needs-a-financial-plan\/","title":{"rendered":"DiNapoli: St. Lawrence County in trouble, needs a financial plan"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Photo: Tax Credits<\/a>, Creative Commons, some rights reserved<\/p><\/div>\n

Apparently St. Lawrence County needs to get a “long-range financial plan.” That’s according to an audit of the county’s financial situation that New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli issued today (interesting charts within!)<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In a press release on the audit, DiNapoli is quoted as saying the county is “walking on a financial tightrope…without sufficient cash available for managing unforeseen events or closing budget shortfalls.” That sounds terrible. But what does it mean, and how did we get here?<\/p>\n

State auditors found that between 2007 and 2011 the county’s fund balance in its general fund decreased 68 percent from $21.3 million to $6.9 million. Unexpended surplus funds, which are the portion of that balance that’s not allocated for another purpose and is available for use, went from $11 million in 2007 to -$1.7 million (that’s $1.7 million in the red) at the end of 2011.<\/p>\n

How? DiNapoli’s report says that county officials “relied heavily” on those funds to close budget gaps and keep tax rates stable. And they’d included a nearly-$4 million appropriation from those same funds for the 2012 fiscal year, which means at the end of that year there would be a deficit of $3.6 million.<\/p>\n

Here’s a little more from that press release:<\/p>\n

Audit findings also included:
\n\u00b7 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0In September 2011, the county incurred a cash flow shortage in the general fund that required the issuance of a revenue anticipation note of $8.5 million against the state and federal aid revenue to be received in 2012. This cost the county $260,742 in interest payments;
\n\u00b7 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0The Board of Legislators has requested state legislation that would allow it to increase its sales tax rate from 3 to 4 percent, which county officials project would initially generate an additional $12 million annually;
\n\u00b7 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0The board passed a local law to override the state\u2019s property tax cap and increased the county\u2019s tax levy by $6.7 million (14 percent) to $53 million for 2013; and
\n\u00b7 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0The county is deferring some work on roads and bridges and delaying purchases of vehicles, equipment and computers because of its cash shortfall.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The report’s not all about being hard on county officials, though. It acknowledges a number of demographic issues that have “contributed to St. Lawrence County’s poor financial position:” A population that’s not growing; “relatively low” median income ($49,390 versus an average of $56,951 for counties across the state); and a relatively high poverty rate (17.6 percent versus 14.5 percent statewide); and a high (10.2 percent versus 8.2 percent statewide) unemployment rate.<\/p>\n

DiNapoli recommends something I’m sure county officials will find very simple and easy to do (this doesn’t always come across in print, but I’m being sarcastic): “develop a fund balance policy that establishes a reasonable amount of fund balance to be maintained in order to meet the county\u2019s needs, provide sufficient cash flow, and reduce or eliminate reliance on short-term borrowing.”<\/p>\n

I’m sure said county officials will have something to say about this.<\/p>\n

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