The Town of Ghent has achieved the highest possible rating tier in the latest Fiscal Stress Monitoring System evaluations issued by the New York State Office of the State Comptroller.
Understanding the Scoring System The State Comptroller’s Fiscal Stress Monitoring System evaluates local governments on a 0-to-100 point scale. Unlike traditional academic tests, a lower point total indicates stronger health and lower fiscal strain:
- Financial Stress: Evaluates direct budgetary health, including operating deficits, cash positions, reserve fund balances, and debt levels. Scores from 0 to 44.9 earn a “No Designation” ranking (healthiest), while scores of 45 and above place municipalities under “Susceptible,” “Moderate,” or “Significant” Fiscal Stress. Ghent earned a perfect score of 0.0, reflecting zero fiscal stress.
- Environmental Stress: Assesses local economic and demographic conditions that are largely outside a municipal government’s direct control, such as household poverty, population shifts, property values, median household income, unemployment, and reliance on state/federal aid. Scores below 30 fall into the “No Designation” category. Ghent achieved a score of 13.3, safely in the healthiest tier.
“When the Town Board took over 5 years ago, we were in good financial shape, but needed more controls, processes and safeguards in place to ensure continued stability,” said Town Supervisor Craig Simmons. “Since that time, financial pressures have increased and small towns like Ghent are getting squeezed by rising fuel and resource costs, rising health care costs and an uncertain economy. In times like these, our approach has become even more important, and I am proud of the work our Board has done to put those safeguards in place. This report, and our Town’s continued stable budget is the culmination of our good fiscal policy.”
For more information on town operations, meeting schedules, and town budgets, visit www.townofghent.org.