Here In Mesa: Truth-or-Dare In Accounting > Just The Data

It's that time again to another look at data from another source as the budget presentations are getting heard and discussed in a series of public meetings in front of the Mesa City Council that has already started just this past week in Thursday, March 28, 2019:
Truth In Accounting
Readers of this blog might remember that when anyone - including any Mesa City Councilmember who dared to question the data or forecasts and predictions made by Candace Cannistraro, City Manager Chris Brady or the staff of the Office of Management & Budget - got verbally attacked and derided during the meetings over the course of weeks from February through May. How dare they question anything?
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SNAPSHOT BY THE NUMBERS Mesa's Bills Exceed Its Assets [*in the millions]

Assets * $4,097

• Less: Capital Assets * $2,892
• Restricted Assets * $132
• Assets Available to Pay Bills * $1,073
• Less: Bills * $1,885
• Money Available (Needed) to Pay Bills * ($813)
• Each Taxpayer's Surplus (Burden) ($5,800)

The Bills Mesa has Accumulated

• State Bonds * $1,797
• Other Liabilities * $267
• Less: Debt Related to Capital Assets * $1,658
• Unfunded Pension Benefits * $830
• Unfunded Retirees' Health Care Benefits * $648
• Bills * $1,885

https://www.statedatalab.org/state_data_and_comparisons/city/mesahttps://www.statedatalab.org/state_data_and_comparisons/city/mesa

News: 2019 Financial State of the Cities

January 28, 2019

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TIA Data

2017 Financial State of Mesa (Released 1/29/2019)

Mesa's Taxpayer Burden.™ is -$5,800, and received a "D" from TIA.

Mesa is a Sinkhole City without enough assets to cover its debt.

Decisions by elected officials have created a Taxpayer Burden™, which is each taxpayer's share of city bills after its available assets have been tapped.

TIA's Taxpayer Burden™ measurement incorporates all assets and liabilities, including retirement obligations.

Mesa only has $1.1 billion of assets available to pay bills totaling $1.9 billion.

Because Mesa doesn't have enough money to pay its bills, it has a $812.5 million financial hole. To erase this shortfall, each Mesa taxpayer would have to send $5,800 to the city.

Mesa's reported net position is overstated by $175.3 million, largely because the city delays recognizing losses incurred when the net pension liability increases.

The city's financial report was released 186 days after its fiscal year end, which is considered untimely according to the 180 day standard.

Prior Years' TIA Data
2016 Financial State of Mesa
2015 Financial State of Mesa
Other Resources
Mesa Comprehensive Annual Financial Reports
Publishing Entity: Mesa City Hall

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Download the new report here.

On January 29, Truth in Accounting released its third Financial State of the Cities report, a comprehensive analysis of the fiscal health of the nation's 75 most populous cities based on fiscal year 2017 comprehensive annual financial reports. 

This year, the study found that 63 cities do not have enough money to pay all of their bills, and in total, the cities have racked up nearly $330 billion in unfunded municipal debt. 

The study ranks the cities according to their Taxpayer Burden or Taxpayer Surplus™, which is each taxpayer's share of city bills after available assets have been tapped.

Check out the data for your city at the State Data Lab.