Let's Get Fiscal Here In Mesa: How Strong Are Our City's Finances? REALLY...Without the Hype

Thanks to a social media by Scott Beyer, it sure looks like Mesa City Manager Chris Brady can't punch his way-out from reliable data, no matter if he's hitting low balls either above or below his high-salaried generous benefits package over his 15-year track record as the city's chief executive officer.
There's a new batch of data just published today:
SPOILER ALERT: #85 Mesa
How Strong Are Your City's Finances?
116 US Cities Ranked
January 9, 2017
https://www.thefiscaltimes.com/Authors/J/Marc-Joffe

To compile this Fiscal Health Index, we looked at 116 U.S. cities with populations greater than 200,000, using data from 2015 financial reports issued by the cities themselves. . .
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Our scoring system is described in a new working paper
Read the full methodology here.
Click the table headers below to sort by ranking, city name, state or fiscal strength score. Click each city's name to get more details about its score [for fiscal strength score + ranking
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For cities in Arizona with higher rankings,
#17 Gilbert Score 85
#20 Chandler Score 84
#43 Phoenix Score 73
#77 Glendale Score 62
#81 Tucson Score 60
#84 Scottsdale Score 59
#85 Mesa Score 59
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MORE DETAILS FOR MESA: https://www.thefiscaltimes.com/2017/01/09/Mesa-Arizona

Mesa, AZ

General Fund Balance as a Percentage of General Fund Expenditures	23.38%
Long Term Obligations as a Percentage of Total Revenues	235.09%
Actuarially Required Pension Contributions as a Percentage of Total Revenues	3.21%
Change in Unemployment Rate	-0.60%
Change in Home Prices	9.05%
Fiscal Health Score	59
Implied Bond Rating	AA-

Click here to see the complete list.
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Marc Joffe

Marc Joffe, a senior policy analyst at the Reason Foundation, has written for the Mercatus Center at George Mason University and the Haas Institute at UC Berkeley.

Previously, he was the director of policy research for the California Policy Center and a senior director at Moody’s Analytics.