And they often have governments that have been under the firm control of a single party for many years, thus avoiding the fiscal uncertainty of partisan budget battles.

While those lengthy detailed reports received little attention, Ms. Holtzman's 17-page study, issued during a week of fiscal uncertainty, captured the public's attention.

The Susquehanna restoration has been spared the fiscal uncertainties of the rest of the plan.

Until the issues are resolved, the city faces labor tension and fiscal uncertainty.

Mr. Dinkins said the move would save $4 million a month and help keep the city's budget balanced in the face of deep fiscal uncertainty.

But in February 1988 he said fiscal uncertainty meant the goal would have to be postponed, and he in fact delayed a number of police classes to save money.

Thirty years of community bickering and fiscal uncertainty followed the city's acquisition of the 300-acre oceanfront site.

"And we will have adequate resources to react to any changes in the economy or other fiscal uncertainties."

In this cycle of fiscal uncertainty, it appears that people are feeling the squeeze.

All this at an agency that found its warnings about deteriorating city tax revenues and fiscal uncertainties about the future largely ignored by the public in recent months.