Fiscally Stressed Communities: NYS Comptrollers Designations FY2012

Two dozen communities in New York have been designated as fiscally stressed under State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli’s new Fiscal Stress Monitoring System. The list includes eight counties, three cities and 13 towns, none of which are in our region.

DiNapoli’s monitoring system evaluates local governments on 23 financial and environmental indicators and creates an overall fiscal condition score. Indicators include cash-on-hand and patterns of operating deficits, together with broader demographic information like population trends and tax assessment growth. The scores are used to classify whether a community is in “significant fiscal stress", “moderate fiscal stress", “susceptible to fiscal stress,”or “no designation".

The municipalities found to be in stress share a number of common characteristics, such as low fund balance, a continued pattern of operating deficits and inadequate cash on hand to pay their bills. In addition to the 24 fiscally stressed municipalities, DiNapoli said 18 communities have been listed as “under review” and continue to have their information vetted. There are also 124 local entities that have been designated as “have not filed,” meaning they have yet to submit necessary financial information due to the Comptroller’s office. The remaining communities have been classified as “no designation.” This system measures the level of fiscal stress a municipality is facing. A municipality’s absence from the top three categories should not be viewed as substantiation of good financial condition by the Comptroller’s office.

 Here are the designations for our region.

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Happy Mother's Day ? The Stress of Motherhood

A recent survey by TodayMOMS.com points out some of the stresses moms feel when it comes to their lives. For example, when it comes to family size, mothers of three children stress more than moms of one or two, while mothers of four or more children actually report lower stress levels, according to the survey of more than 7,000 U.S. mothers. But the kids aren't the only thing that mothers feel add pressure to their lives.

Consider these findings from the survey:

• 46 percent of moms say their husbands/partners cause them more stress than their kids do;
• 72 percent of moms stress about how stressed they are;
• 60 percent say it’s lack of time to do everything that needs to get done that is the biggest stress;
• 60 percent of moms say raising girls is more stressful than raising boys; and
• Nine out of 10 moms stress about staying fit and attractive.

According to the 2010 Census, roughly 6% to 7% of families in Herkimer and Oneida Counties are comprised of three children under the age of 18. The table below gives the data for the number for children under the age of 18 present in homes for each county.

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