Eleven school districts in Western New York show signs of fiscal stress, according to an analysis of school district finances released by state Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli on Thursday.

The Comptroller’s Office warned that three local school districts – West Seneca, Lewiston-Porter and Niagara-Wheatfield –are facing “significant fiscal stress,” the most serious category.

“Unfortunately, reductions in state aid, a cap on local revenue and decreased rainy day funds are creating financial challenges that more and more school districts are having trouble overcoming,” DiNapoli said in a written statement. “My office’s fiscal stress scores highlight the need for school district officials to manage their finances carefully with an eye towards long-range planning and how they can operate more efficiently.”

Western New York school districts that are labeled as facing “moderate fiscal stress” include Frontier, Evans-Brant, Lackawanna and Holland. The Comptroller’s Office also placed four districts – Niagara Falls, Bemus Point, Ellicottville and Scio – in a third category, “susceptible” to fiscal stress.

Staff in DiNapoli’s office used financial indicators, including year-end fund balances, cash position and patterns of operating deficits, to create an overall fiscal stress score to classify school districts across the state.

School districts facing fiscal stress were more likely to use short-term borrowing to bridge cash flow gaps and to operate with low fund balance, deficits and limited cash on hand, DiNapoli’s report said.

Eighty-seven school districts across the state were classified as facing some level of fiscal stress.

The fiscal stress scores were calculated based on financial information submitted to the state Education Department as of December. They did not include the state’s largest school districts, including Buffalo.

The complete list of school district fiscal stress scores can be viewed on the website of the Comptroller’s Office: www.osc.state.ny.us/localgov/fiscalmonitoring/pdf/schools/schools_summary_lists.pdf..

email: djgee@buffnews.com

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