Three Long Island Municipalities Flagged for Fiscal Stress, Island Park Receives Highest Designation; Huntington Bay, Glen Cove

LONG ISLAND, NY – Three Long Island municipalities received fiscal stress designations in New York State’s latest completed review, while gaps in financial reporting left 18 other local governments without a usable score, according to a Long Island Guide analysis of state comptroller data.

The review covers local fiscal years ending in 2025. The Village of Island Park received a score of 65.0, placing it in the state’s highest category, significant fiscal stress. The Village of Huntington Bay scored 49.2 and the City of Glen Cove scored 47.1, putting both in the susceptible to fiscal stress category.

The findings appear in the Office of the New York State Comptroller’s updated municipal results, released September 24, 2026. Island Park and Huntington Bay’s results were originally announced March 19, reflecting their different fiscal calendars. Glen Cove’s result was included in the September announcement.

Most Scored Long Island Governments Received No Designation

Long Island Guide reviewed the 113 Nassau and Suffolk entries in the comptroller’s detailed municipal worksheet. Of those, 95 received a fiscal stress score: 92 had no stress designation and three crossed a designation threshold. Another 17 were listed as not filed, and one had inconclusive data.

Both Nassau County and Suffolk County, along with all 13 town governments, received no fiscal stress designation. These counts were calculated from the Summary tab of the state’s 2025 municipal data worksheet.

The municipal results concern county, city, town and village governments. School districts are evaluated separately, so these figures do not represent a combined assessment of every taxing authority serving a particular address.

The Three Municipalities Designated in Fiscal Stress

Higher scores indicate greater fiscal stress. The thresholds are 45 points for susceptible, 55 for moderate and 65 for significant. No Long Island municipality appeared in the moderate category, according to the state’s complete list of municipalities designated in fiscal stress.

Island Park and Huntington Bay’s scores declined from the previous fiscal year, although both remained in a stress category. The comptroller’s statewide report identifies low fund balances as a continuing concern among a group of four municipalities that included both villages, despite improvements in other indicators.

What the Scores Measure

The Fiscal Stress Monitoring System examines self-reported financial information, including year-end fund balances, operating deficits, cash availability, short-term borrowing and fixed costs. Its purpose is to identify signs of pressure on a government’s finances.

A stress designation should not be interpreted as a declaration of bankruptcy or a prediction that public services will stop. Likewise, a classification of “no designation” means the government’s score fell below the threshold; the comptroller cautions that municipalities below that threshold can still experience financial pressures.

The state also calculates a separate environmental stress score based on community conditions, including population trends, poverty and unemployment. That measure is distinct from the financial scores used for the designations reported here.

Reporting Gaps Leave Some Communities Without Scores

The detailed worksheet lists 10 Nassau villages and seven Suffolk villages as not filed for scoring purposes.

In Nassau, they were Atlantic Beach, Cedarhurst, Centre Island, East Hills, East Rockaway, East Williston, Great Neck, Hempstead, Lawrence and Old Brookville. In Suffolk, they were Amityville, Islandia, Lake Grove, Lloyd Harbor, North Haven, Old Field and West Hampton Dunes, using the state’s spelling for that village.

Valley Stream was listed separately as inconclusive in the detailed worksheet. These classifications describe the scoring snapshot, rather than establishing whether a municipality still has an outstanding filing today.

The comptroller explains that municipalities on its non-filer list had not submitted their annual financial reports by the date their scores were to be calculated. Without the necessary information, a fiscal stress score could not be produced.

A missing or inconclusive score cannot be treated as a passing result. It also does not establish that the government would have received a fiscal stress designation if complete information had been available.

Key Facts & Details

Methodology: Long Island Guide filtered the Summary tab of the comptroller’s 2025 municipal data worksheet for Nassau and Suffolk County entries and counted each government’s fiscal designation. Figures combine calendar-year and non-calendar-year municipalities. Not filed and inconclusive entries were excluded from the scored total. Environmental stress ratings were not substituted for financial stress classifications.

For residents, the review offers a starting point for examining local budgets and financial reports. The distinction between a stress designation, a score below the threshold and an unavailable score matters: each describes a different result, and none replaces a closer look at the financial decisions facing an individual community.