The city of Buffalo’s finances are so bad that there are two efforts currently underway to borrow money.

First, the city Comptroller has asked to borrow $25 million over the next two years to meet Buffalo’s current obligations. Second, Buffalo’s Fiscal Stability Authority is asking the state legislature to change the law to allow it to borrow $121 million over 10 years.

Professor Fred Floss, a Senior Fellow at the Fiscal Policy Institute, Chair of the Department of Economics and Finance at Buffalo State and a member of Buffalo’s Fiscal Control Board, discussed the situation with Capital Tonight host Susan Arbetter.

According to a new study published in the September edition of the National Tax Journal, cities in upstate New York, Buffalo, Rochester and Syracuse, are the most financially distressed cities in the nation. One reason why, according to Floss, is that all three rely heavily on state aid.