About These Charts
These scatter plots visualize the relationship between county council partisan composition and key financial health metrics. The x-axis shows the percentage of county council members who are Republican or Conservative party, based on the November 2025 election results. Use the year scroller above each chart to see how patterns change over time.
Note: The partisan composition data reflects only the November 2025 elections and is used for all fiscal years. Council makeup may have been different in earlier years. Historical election data will be added in a future update.
Background zones: The blue-tinted area (left) represents Democratic-leaning councils; the red-tinted area (right) represents Republican-leaning councils. The purple zone (45–55%) represents balanced councils. Dashed vertical lines mark the two-thirds veto-proof thresholds at 33% and 67%.
Operating Ratio measures total revenue as a percentage of total expenditures. Values above the green 100% line indicate a surplus; below indicates a deficit. This is the most direct measure of whether a county is living within its means.
Fund Balance % measures the unassigned fund balance as a percentage of total expenditures. Higher values indicate a larger fiscal cushion. Uses account A917 (GASB 54, FY 2011+) or A910+A911 (pre-GASB 54) for historical consistency.
Debt Service % measures annual debt service payments as a percentage of total expenditures. Lower values generally indicate less debt burden.
All metrics exclude Trust & Custodial fund pass-throughs and interfund transfers to avoid double-counting. The five NYC boroughs are not separate counties in the OSC system. Data sourced from the NYS Comptroller's Office. See Methodology for details.