Strong Towns Finance Decoder — City of Elmira, NY
Elmira's Fiscal Health Report
Seven measures of the city's money, taken from Elmira's audited books and scored the
way Strong Towns scores a city. The data covers FY2020 through FY2024. The FY2025
report is not out yet.
−$81M
Net financial position (FY2024)
28¢
Financial assets per $1 owed (FY2024)
27%
Revenue from government transfers (FY2024)
3 Red · 3 Yellow
of 7 indicators · only interest payments are green
How to read this page
The
Strong Towns Finance Decoder
turns a city's yearly audited report (its ACFR) into seven scores. Green means healthy.
Yellow means watch it. Red means the city cannot keep this up. Every figure here comes from
Elmira's own audited reports. See
Data Sources.
One thing to know first. Audited books follow
GAAP accounting rules. Under those rules, a promise
to pay later counts as debt
today. Pensions and retiree health care are the big ones.
That is why these numbers look worse than the city budget does. The budget shows this year's
checkbook. The audit shows the whole tab.
Tap any term with a dotted underline for a plain definition, or open the
full glossary.
Can the city pay its bills over the long run? These four measures compare what the city
has against what it owes.
1. Net Financial Position
Unsustainable
Cash and money owed to the city, minus everything the city owes. A negative number
means the debts are far bigger. Roads and buildings are left out on purpose. You
cannot pay a bill with a road.
Healthy benchmark: a positive number, meaning the city holds more than
it owes. Elmira has been deeply negative every year since FY2020. FY2022 looked better,
but $14M in federal ARPA funds did that, and FY2023 gave it back. Nothing in the five
years of data points to a recovery.
2. Financial Assets-to-Liabilities
Unsustainable
For every dollar the city owes, how much does it hold in cash and money owed to it?
Below 1.0 means it cannot cover its debts from those alone. Elmira is sliding further
below that line.
Healthy benchmark: above 1.0, meaning cash covers the debts.
Elmira's ratio has been under 0.4 every year since FY2020. In FY2024 the city holds
28 cents for every dollar it owes. That figure has fallen every year
since the FY2022 peak.
3. Assets-to-Liabilities (Total)
Monitor
Everything the city owns, roads and buildings included, divided by everything it owes.
Elmira sat well under 1.0 in FY2020 and FY2021, owing more than it owned. It climbed
just past 1.0 in FY2022, slipped back in FY2023, and barely cleared the line again in
FY2024.
Healthy benchmark: above 1.0, every year.
Elmira was below it in three of the last five. FY2024 cleared the line, barely.
Keep in mind that roads and buildings are hard to sell, and they wear out.
4. Net Debt-to-Revenues
Unsustainable
How big is the hole next to the city's income? Take the shortfall from indicator 1 and
divide it by everything the city takes in each year. Elmira's −1.74 means the hole is
nearly two full years of collections. That is every tax dollar, every
fee, every grant. In household terms: you owe two years of gross pay, beyond the value
of anything you own.
Healthy benchmark: positive, or at least moving toward zero.
The ratio got better after FY2020's −1.93×, when revenues were lower, then slid back to
−1.74×. To clear its financial obligations, Elmira would need about
1.74 years of every dollar it takes in.
How much room does the city have to move? These two measures show whether debt costs
and worn-out roads and buildings are boxing it in.
5. Interest-to-Revenues
Healthy
How much of the city's income goes to interest on its debt?
This is Elmira's only green score. Interest is small next to what the city takes in.
Benchmarks: under 5% is healthy. 5–15% means watch it. Over 15% is
unsustainable. The interest bill is well managed. The size of the debt behind it,
in indicator 4, is not.
6. Net Book Value-to-Cost of Capital Assets
Monitor
What the city's roads, buildings and equipment are still worth on the books, divided
by what they cost new. The ratio falls as things age and wear out. A low number means
replacement bills are coming. Elmira's are about half worn out.
FY2024
0.50
▲ slight improvement
Benchmarks: above 0.6 is good shape. 0.4–0.6 means watch it. Below 0.4
is aging. Elmira has sat between 0.44 and 0.50 for five years, so about half the value of
its roads, buildings and equipment is used up. The FY2024 bump comes from new spending,
but the older stock keeps aging. (The FY2022 total-cost figure was not reported that year.)
How exposed is the city to things it does not control?
This measure asks how much it leans on outside money that could be cut.
7. Government Transfers-to-Total Revenues
Vulnerable
How much of the city's income comes from state and federal grants?
A city that leans hard on outside money can be hurt by cuts it does not control.
Elmira's share jumps whenever grant-funded projects are running.
Healthy benchmark: below 20%, meaning the city pays its own way.
Elmira has been over 20% in all five years. The peak was 30.8% in FY2021, when federal
pandemic money and grant projects surged. If those grants shrink, the pressure lands on
local taxes right away.
| Indicator |
Category |
FY2020 |
FY2021 |
FY2022 |
FY2023 |
FY2024 |
Rating |
| Net Financial Position |
Sustainability |
−$83.6M |
−$84.4M |
−$72.1M |
−$81.5M |
−$81.0M |
● Unsustainable |
| Financial Assets-to-Liabilities |
Sustainability |
0.23 |
0.23 |
0.37 |
0.35 |
0.28 |
● Unsustainable |
| Assets-to-Liabilities |
Sustainability |
0.76 |
0.95 |
1.04 |
0.97 |
1.03 |
● Monitor |
| Net Debt-to-Revenues |
Sustainability |
−1.93× |
−1.62× |
−1.50× |
−1.74× |
−1.74× |
● Unsustainable |
| Interest-to-Revenues |
Flexibility |
2.5% |
1.8% |
1.6% |
1.8% |
1.9% |
● Healthy |
| Net Book Value-to-Cost of Assets |
Flexibility |
0.44 |
0.46 |
n/a |
0.46 |
0.50 |
● Monitor |
| Govt Transfers-to-Revenues |
Vulnerability |
22.4% |
30.8% |
28.0% |
23.3% |
27.3% |
● Vulnerable |
The raw numbers behind the seven scores, straight from the City of Elmira's audited books.
The Elmira Water Board is not in them; it keeps its own books.
Two lines need translating. OPEB
Liability is retiree health care the city has promised without setting money
aside. Net Pension Liability is the same idea for pensions.
Audited accounting rules count both as debt,
because someone will have to pay them. See data sources →
| Line Item |
FY2020 |
FY2021 |
FY2022 |
FY2023 |
FY2024 |
| ASSETS |
| Current Assets |
$24,278,193 |
$25,317,773 |
$42,122,939 |
$43,633,696 |
$31,884,856 |
| Capital Assets (net of depreciation) |
$52,458,164 |
$61,055,163 |
$65,389,073 |
$67,748,143 |
$75,706,574 |
| Total Assets |
$81,829,724 |
$104,096,291 |
$118,793,826 |
$121,486,598 |
$115,976,147 |
| Deferred Outflows |
$23,119,027 |
$28,896,147 |
$24,229,949 |
$22,675,928 |
$22,426,243 |
| LIABILITIES |
| Total Liabilities |
$107,854,862 |
$109,681,987 |
$114,232,853 |
$125,085,497 |
$112,871,958 |
| — Noncurrent Liabilities |
$89,259,382 |
$94,055,337 |
— |
— |
$92,334,352 |
| — OPEB Liability (incl. in above) |
$46,828,660 |
$50,615,583 |
— |
— |
$41,573,398 |
| — Net Pension Liability (incl. in above) |
$16,271,883 |
$4,430,050 |
— |
— |
$14,806,624 |
| Deferred Inflows |
$9,234,504 |
$22,266,925 |
$21,280,308 |
$11,308,286 |
$20,046,224 |
| REVENUES |
| Total Revenues |
$43,413,493 |
$52,087,934 |
$48,039,586 |
$46,892,194 |
$46,596,585 |
| — Operating Grants & Contributions |
$1,855,467 |
$5,326,448 |
$7,887,425 |
$7,575,650 |
$10,824,236 |
| — Capital Grants & Contributions |
$7,859,964 |
$10,731,996 |
$5,568,264 |
$3,341,815 |
$1,901,059 |
| Interest Charges on Long-Term Debt |
$1,070,824 |
$936,692 |
$752,321 |
$855,211 |
$890,947 |
| CAPITAL ASSETS |
| Total Original Cost |
$120,068,405 |
$132,402,942 |
n/a |
$147,178,032 |
$152,245,996 |
| Accumulated Depreciation |
$67,610,241 |
$71,347,779 |
n/a |
$79,429,889 |
$76,539,422 |
FY2025 Data — Pending
As of June 2026 the City of Elmira had not posted its FY2025 audited report to the city's
DocumentCenter. We checked document IDs 200 through 1350 and found no city financial report
later than FY2024, which is doc ID 1145. The report should appear once the outside audit is
done. That usually takes 6 to 9 months after the fiscal year ends, and FY2025 ended
December 31, 2025. We will update this page when it does.