Manorhaven has been identified by New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli as having the third highest “fiscal stress” level of the 535 state villages he examined. The report, while striking in itself, has put Mayor Giovanna Giunta on the defensive while giving her opponents a rallying cry.
Manorhaven’s score is 65.8 percent, with only upstate Suffern, at 86.7 percent, and Amityville, at 70.8 percent, having higher tallies. A higher score indicates greater fiscal strain.
DiNapoli used financial indicators that include year-end fund balance, cash position and patterns of operating deficits. From that he derived an overall “fiscal stress score” that classifies whether a municipality is in “significant fiscal stress,” as Manorhaven is designated, “moderate fiscal stress,” “susceptible to fiscal stress,” or has “no designation.”
In a letter on the village website, Giunta responds to the report, blaming the past administration and Super Storm Sandy.
While the comptroller’s examination reflects the payment of a $400,000 judgment stemming from a lawsuit against the village, it does not say the lawsuit was “inherited” from a previous administration, she wrote. Former Manorhaven Mayor Michael Meehan and John M. Di Leo Jr., who succeeded Meehan when he resigned in 2012 and ran against Giunta in the last election, could not be reached for comment.
Additionally, Giunta said the comptroller’s examination notes large outlays for cleaning up after Super Storm Sandy, but does not account for expected reimbursement of nearly 90 percent. While the report did not identify Sandy outlays specifically, it did take into account things like cash reserves that could have been used by villages to pay for Sandy-related clean-ups, said Brian Butry, a spokesman for DiNapoli. The report did not consider reimbursements for Sandy clean-ups if they had not yet been made, Butry added.
“Finally, the last year and a half has presented great challenges for us,” Giunta wrote. “Not only did we inherit a financial mess and costly litigation from the previous administration, just four months after taking oath we were confronted with the devastation of Super Storm Sandy.”
Over the last 18 months, “this administration has worked tirelessly to correct the mistakes and missteps of the past, fight corruption and restore fiscal sanity to our village,” Giunta wrote. “We heed the warning of [DiNapoli’s report] and are committed to meet these challenges and strive to make a better and stronger Manorhaven for future generations.”
The report raised the hackles of the Manorhaven Residents Party, which on Friday mailed a flier to all registered Manorhaven voters responding to the comptroller’s report and the mayor’s comments. In it, the Residents Party says the report is “just the tip of the iceberg” regarding Manorhaven’s fiscal condition.
“We’re very concerned about the future financial stability of the village,” Jim Avena, chairman of the Residents Party, told the Port News. “The village is heading in the wrong direction from a financial standpoint and an open government standpoint.”
Avena also said the village has already been payed back for its Super Storm Sandy outlay, “contradicting the mayor’s statements. The report the village submitted to DiNapoli’s office states the reimbursement was made.”
Avena said he will run against the mayor in the June election.
Giunta told the Port News in general the comptroller’s report “misrepresents the financial state Manorhaven is in.”
The village’s 2014-2015 budget “places us back in good financial standing,” Giunta said.
As for transparency in government, the village provides detailed financial abstracts to residents every month at the board of trustees meeting and on its website, Giunta explained: “We provide all financial documentation to all agencies, issue a quarterly newsletter to residents and provide updates about financial projects on our website.”
Manorhaven had a population of 6,556, as of the 2010 US Census.
DiNapoli said: “I continue to emphasize to local officials that the best way their community can avoid falling into fiscal stress is through sensible budgeting and careful long-term planning.”
Villages in fiscal stress share a number of common characteristics in governing, DiNapoli said. Nearly all operate with both low fund balance and budget deficits. More than 40 percent have relied on short-term debt to bridge cash-flow gaps.
Fiscally stressed villages also share a number of characteristics external to government itself, including: declining property values, above average or growing child poverty rates and a shrinking employment base, DiNapoli said.
