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Mount Vernon Is Not on the State’s Fiscal Stress List. Nobody Can Say Whether It Should Be.

The State Comptroller hasn't been able to score Mount Vernon's finances for ten years, because City Hall doesn't file the reports the law requires on time.

Mount Vernon isn't on the State's fiscal stress list, and nobody can say whether it should be. City Hall hasn't filed the reports needed to score it.
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The Mayor’s Yes Men

Council Members Thompson and Boxhill’s record, before they ask for four more years.

Thompson has voted yes 992 times out of 994. Boxhill objects more, but in 30 months their votes have not defeated a single administration request.
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Shawyn Patterson-Howard’s Fiscal Record: Seven Years, Higher Taxes, Same Financial Crisis

Mount Vernon residents are paying far more. The city is still broke, still borrowing, and still can't produce basic financial records — or the rules its departments are supposed to follow.

Seven years in: no bond rating, no current audits, no written financial policies, and taxes up every year. What the City's own numbers say about the record.
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Sketch of a tally sheet headed Board of Estimate Vote, with the Aye column full of tally marks and the Nay column blank

In Theory, Mount Vernon Elects a Comptroller to Protect Taxpayers. Does It Work?

In theory, an elected comptroller is an independent check on city spending. In practice, the board where he votes has approved 828 items this year and rejected none.

Mount Vernon still elects its comptroller. He warned of bankruptcy, doubted the revenue, and voted aye 828 times. The nay column is empty.
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The Comptroller Has Diagnosed Mount Vernon’s Fiscal Problem. Now Let’s Talk About His Record.

Darren Morton’s second-quarter report is honest about the overspending. It is quiet about who was supposed to stop it.

Morton’s own Q2 report shows a $4.32M deficit and police overtime at 201% of budget. He promised to control spending. Six months in, he hasn’t.
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Who Pays Property Taxes, and How Much?

Tax loads in Mount Vernon differ wildly, and political connections seem to help.

The bills are rising for everyone in Mount Vernon. Almost everyone. We checked 199 homes on three streets and found the exceptions: a $906K home paying $8,327, a $1.6 million home paying $225, and $59
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At 115 Opal, Mount Vernon Gave Away the House

The IDA lost millions, got its own math wrong, and rewarded the mayor's campaign fundraiser.

The Mount Vernon IDA's own consultant corrected the math: Opal 115 leaves the city $5.8M short and the schools $26M short over its 30-year tax break.
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11 Questions for the State Monitor Before the June 16 Mount Vernon School District Budget Revote

MVCIP publishes a letter from a Mount Vernon resident raising questions about the School District's reported surplus, budget transfers, tax levy increase, class-size projections, and financial transparency ahead of the June 16 budget revote.
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City Hall’s Private Charities

How Mount Vernon Officials Built Two Nonprofits to Fund Themselves with Your Money

Two city-employee-run nonprofits operate out of the same room in Mount Vernon City Hall. The Comptroller leads both — and approved $60,000 in federal funds to one of them. Public records reveal deep conflicts of
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We Met With Assemblyman Pretlow About Mount Vernon’s Fiscal Emergency

He supports state financial oversight — if the city council asks for it.

MVCIP met with Assemblyman Pretlow to discuss Mount Vernon's fiscal crisis. He supports state financial oversight — but the City Council must request it first.
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