The City of Rye, Town of Rye and Rye City School District passed New York State's latest fiscal health check with low scores, according to results from State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli.
The Comptroller's Fiscal Stress Monitoring System (FSMS), an early-warning tool established in 2013, examines indicators such as operating deficits, fund balances, cash availability and borrowing. Scores below 45 out of 100 earn a "No Designation" classification, meaning a government has not triggered the state's fiscal stress thresholds.
The City of Rye scored 3.3 and the Town of Rye scored 6.7 in the municipal assessment covering fiscal years ending in 2025, Talk of the Sound reported. The Village of Rye Brook scored 3.3. All three received "No Designation" for both fiscal and environmental stress, with environmental scores of zero.
The school district results, covering the 2023-24 school year, also showed clean marks for local districts. The Rye City School District scored zero for fiscal stress and 5.0 for environmental stress. The Blind Brook-Rye Union Free School District scored zero and 10.0, and the Rye Neck Union Free School District scored zero and 15.0.
None received a stress designation.
The picture was different for two neighboring districts. The Port Chester-Rye Union Free School District scored 6.7 for fiscal stress but 60.0 for environmental stress, placing it in the "Significant Environmental Stress" category. The New Rochelle City School District scored 10.0 for fiscal stress and 33.3 for environmental stress, earning a "Susceptible Environmental Stress" label.
Environmental stress does not mean a district is in financial trouble. It flags underlying economic or demographic conditions, such as population trends, poverty and property values, that could make maintaining stability harder over time.
Westchester County scored 3.3 for fiscal stress and 13.3 for environmental stress, with no designation in either category. County Executive Ken Jenkins said the score reflects the county's financial discipline, while noting pressure from federal spending cuts, Talk of the Sound reported.
Statewide, 22 local governments were designated in fiscal stress for fiscal years ending in 2025, down from 23 a year earlier, according to the Comptroller's Sept. 24 announcement. DiNapoli urged local officials to plan future budgets carefully, citing the end of federal pandemic aid, higher inflation, rising operating costs and slowing sales tax revenue growth.
A "No Designation" result does not amount to a clean audit. The scores measure whether a government has crossed specific stress thresholds, not whether it faces zero financial challenges. The Comptroller's office releases municipal scores annually.
