Chemung County Receives Fiscal Stress Score from New York State Comptroller

NEWS RELEASE

September 22, 2025

Chemung County Receives Fiscal Stress Score from New York State Comptroller

Chemung County has received its 2024 Fiscal Stress and Environmental Stress Scores from the Office of the New York State Comptroller (OSC). The County received a Fiscal Stress Score of 6.7 and an Environmental Stress Score of 20, resulting in a "No Designation" Fiscal Stress rating, which is the best possible outcome. Chemung County's 2023 Fiscal Stress score was 3.3, also "No Designation."

The OSC fiscal stress monitoring system is an early warning program. It identifies counties, cities, towns, villages, and school districts that are experiencing financial difficulties. The program provides annual fiscal stress scores to help local leaders and taxpayers understand financial conditions and plan for the long term. The Fiscal Stress Monitoring System (FSMS) analyzes data that local governments and school districts are required to report annually to OSC, and then scores that data and assigns a designation based on various categorical indicators.

"The increase from 2023 to 2024 reflects the impact of operating deficits in recent years," said Chemung County Treasurer Katlyn Colombani-Ruiz. "As expected, the rise from 3.3 to 6.7 is due to the Operating Deficits category, where County combined funds have reported deficits for two of the last three years. If we experience a combined fund deficit in 2025, I anticipate we will reach the maximum score of 10 points in this category. While the County remains in the strongest possible overall designation within the OSC fiscal stress monitoring system, it is important to recognize the deficit trend and work toward balanced operating budgets in the years ahead. Otherwise, the County fund balance and liquidity will deplete, which in turn will negatively impact the County's fiscal condition and stress score in future years. The 2024 score affirms that the County is not in fiscal stress in the near term, but also reminds us to stay vigilant about long-term fiscal health."