The town of Dayton in Cattaraugus County has been identified as a local government being “susceptible to fiscal stress” by the state comptroller’s office.

State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli’s Fiscal Stress Monitoring System cited Dayton as one of 22 communities listed as facing financial worries. The scores were based on financial information reported by local governments operating on a calendar year basis for 2019 (pre-pandemic). In New York, that includes all counties and towns, 44 cities and 10 villages.

“We’ve been closely tracking the trends and common problems that communities in fiscal stress are facing. Now the economic damage caused by the pandemic has dramatically altered the fiscal landscape, and many communities are struggling to provide critical services and pay their bills,” DiNapoli said. “Without aid from Washington, the options are bleak for local governments trying to stay in the black, and many more local governments may be pushed into serious fiscal stress.”

The cities of Poughkeepsie (Dutchess) and Niagara Falls (Niagara), as well as Suffolk and Westchester Counties received the highest designation of “significant stress.”

Designated in “moderate stress” were the cities of Glen Cove (Nassau) and Little Falls (Herkimer) and the towns of Caneadea (Allegany), Clarkstown (Rockland), Meredith (Delaware), Oakfield (Genesse), Pulteney (Steuben), Ramapo (Rockland), and Yates (Orleans). The counties of Columbia, Franklin, Monroe, Nassau, and Onondaga, and the towns of Colonie (Albany), Dayton (Cattaraugus), Glen (Montgomery), and Moira (Franklin) were identified as being “susceptible to fiscal stress.”