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As part of a four-year program that targets increases in State aid to distressed municipalities, the 2008-09 Enacted Budget provides AIM increases ranging from 3 to 9 percent to municipalities based on objective measures of fiscal distress. These measures include:

* Full valuation of taxable real property per capita less than 50 percent of the statewide average.
* More than 60 percent of the Constitutional property tax limit exhausted.
* Population loss greater than 10 percent since 1970.
* Poverty rate greater than 150 percent of the statewide average.

Over the four-year period from 2007-08 to 2010-11, annual increases are awarded to eligible cities, large towns and large villages with per capita taxable property wealth below the statewide average as follows:

* 9 percent if all four distress indicators are met;
* 7 percent if three distress indicators are met; or
* 5 percent if one or two distress indicators are met.

An additional 4.5 percent increase is allocated to local governments within this classification of distressed municipalities that receive significantly less aid than their peers on a per capita basis.

For other municipalities, a 5 percent increase in aid is provided to small towns (population less than 15,000) and small villages (population less than 10,000) that meet at least one of the distress criteria and have per capita taxable property wealth below the statewide average.

Municipalities that do not meet the above criteria receive a 3 percent inflationary increase.