How stressed out is the checkbook in your hometown or school district? The New York comptroller's office recently finished scoring nearly 2,300 governments and school districts and tabulated their fiscal stress levels.
There are 142 municipalities in some level of fiscal stress, according to Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli.
The comptroller says the percentage score, with 100 percent being as stressed out as a municipality can get, is an 'early warning system.'
It's part of DiNapoli's Fiscal Stress Monitoring System. It's based on financial information provided by local communities and uses financial indicators that include year-end fund balance, cash position and patterns of operating deficits.
If you're really into numbers, you can dive into your hometown or school district's finances by using the comptroller's self assessment tool.
Innovation Trail reporter Ryan Delaney compiled the scores of more than 100 towns, villages, cities, counties and school districts within central New York and put them on this map:
Here's how to read it:
- Grey: Inconclusive or not filed
- Green: No designation (0-45%)
- Yellow: Susceptible to fiscal stress (46-55%)
- Orange: Moderate stress (56-64%)
- Red: Fiscal stress (65-100%)
- Pin: City, town or village
- Circle: County
- Diamond: School district
Notes: For school districts, 'susceptible to stress' begins at 25 percent. "Big Five" school districts, like Syracuse, were not scored. You can open the map full screen by clicking the upper right corner, which will allow you to sort by government or school district.
If your town, village or school district isn't on the map, or you want to check one outside central New York, you can look it up here.
