CA, NY Officials Fret Over Municipal Finances

Cities as basket cases

Top finance officials in California and New York are proposing closer state-level scrutiny of local government budgets to help prevent the distress that has plagued many cities, towns and counties over the last few years.

California Treasurer Bill Lockyer says he wants the state to develop a warning system in which local government finances would be monitored and cities in fiscal trouble identified. New York Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli says he intends to initiate a scoring technique to categorize cities under the most strain. In this way, DiNapoli says, "local officials and the public would have sufficient time to discuss options for turning things around."