Message from Chief Operating Officer Michael DeVito, Esq. re: NYS Comptroller’s Fiscal Stress Monitoring
As has been reported in local media, the Office of the New York State
Comptroller has issued its annual report identifying local governments
and school districts that are experiencing fiscal stress. Long Beach
Public Schools has been listed as a district “susceptible to fiscal
stress.” It is important to note that the score for Long Beach was just
above the cut off for susceptibility.
As we have noted the past several years, the Comptroller’s designation
is based upon a multi-factorial formula that does not account for the
unique financial circumstances that Long Beach Public School District
faced due to Superstorm Sandy. As many in our community already know,
the district was forced to borrow money following Superstorm Sandy to
fund extensive restoration projects throughout the district (and the
Comptroller’s formula identifies short-term borrowing and cash flow as
financial stressors). If the district had received the two FEMA
reimbursement payments prior to June 30th instead of in October and
November, it would have had “no designation.”