Home > Leadership > City Comptroller > News Articles > Comptroller’s Office Has Improved City Finances

Comptroller’s Office Has Improved City Finances

While I was gratified to read the July 28 News editorial, “It’s a new day,” a few important points were overlooked.

As the separately elected comptroller and chief fiscal officer for the City of Buffalo, it is the responsibility of my office to effectuate the issuance of capital bonds. Making the case to Wall Street credit rating agencies and investment banks for Buffalo’s re-entry into the competitive bond market is primarily the role of my office.

Without taking any credit away from Mayor Byron Brown and his administration or the Common Council for the tremendous strides they’ve made in conservative budgeting and policy, I would like to extend credit for the city’s most recent successful competitive bond issuance to the dedicated staffers in my office: Deputy Comptroller Darby Fishkin, Investment Officer Rick Calipari, City Accountant Anne Forti-Sciarrino and the city’s financial adviser, Chester Johnson of Government Finance Associates.

The integrity of governmental checks and balances allows the comptroller to maintain a separate fiscal identity from the mayor’s administration and the Common Council. Fiscal policies implemented during my past seven years as comptroller include a debt-management plan to pay down more debt than we issue; codifying the budget monitoring process; establishing a rainy day fund; and other cost-containment measures.

The Buffalo Fiscal Stability Authority has played a role in the city’s upward fiscal direction, but I am confident that when the authority reverts to an advisory role in the near future, the administration, the Council and my office will continue to improve the city’s financial standing.

The realities of the current economic climate dictate that we must continue on a cautious path, but I am proud to agree that in regard to the city’s financial direction, it is indeed a new day.