Village of Valley Stream slightly less ‘susceptible’ to fiscal stress, comptroller says

Valley Stream’s fiscal stress rating slightly declined last year, according to a report released on March 8 by the state comptroller, which village officials interpreted as indicative of progress.

“The current year that we’re in, we had a structurally sound budget,” said Village Treasurer Michael Fox, who added that he was confident the stress rating would continue to decline.

State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli’s report said that the number of villages in stress on Long Island declined from seven to just one (Valley Stream) over a three-year period. However, 28 villages did not file sufficient data each of the past three years and, as a result, have not received a fiscal stress score during the period.

“This is the second year fiscal stress has declined in villages and the first year without a village in significant fiscal stress,” DiNapoli said in a news release. “I commend local officials for this improvement and believe that sensible budgeting and closely following their multi-year financial plans can help extend financial stability into the future.”

The report, conducted annually, assigns an entity to one of three stress categories — significant, moderate or susceptible — or to the “no designation” category.

In the 2016 fiscal year, the village received a stress score of 50.8 percent, down 1.7 percent from the previous year.