Mayor Richards Calling On Albany For Financial Relief

New York State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli is worried about the financial problems Rochester faces and he says the city needs help.

Mayor Tom Richards says DiNapoli's report confirms everything he has been saying for the last couple years. He says he's glad the Comptroller is recognizing the City of Rochester needs help from the state.

Mayor Richards is pleased the Comptroller praised the management of the city's finances and good credit rating.

The biggest concerns are the loss of tax revenue due to Kodak's bankruptcy, the city's high concentration of poverty, and the state mandated payment to the city school district.

Mayor Richards also says the Rochester doesn't get its fair share of state aid.

Mayor Richards says the city is not in immediate financial trouble, but he needs the state to lift some of the burden before the problem gets any bigger, "in some ways I think it's confirmation of the fact that we need to work with the state and get serious about solving this problem I do not expect us to solve it right away I understand that the state has their own problems but these are sort of fundamental issues we need to deal with," said Mayor Richards.

Mayor Richards says one saving grace could be a proposed pension smoothing plan. It would make the city's payments more manageable and could save money in the long run.