RSM ranks high in the California State Auditor’s Fiscal Health Analysis of the state’s over 470 cities.
Rancho Santa Margarita ranked 402, or within the top 15% of 471 cities in California in terms of best fiscal health. The City also ranked #8 among all 34 cities in Orange County in a study by the State Auditor to identify cities that could be facing fiscal challenges.
The Local Government High-Risk Dashboard, a new database that ranks the fiscal health of more than 470 California cities that submit financial information to the state, ranks cities from highest to lowest risk of fiscal distress based on indicators that assess each city’s ability to pay its bills in both the short and long term. A lower number on this list indicates the most risk; the bottom means the least.
Rankings are based on each city’s cash position or liquidity, debt burden, financial reserves, revenue trends, and the ability to pay for employee retirement benefits. The City of Rancho Santa Margarita’s high score demonstrates the continued fiscal prudence and leadership of the City Council for almost two decades since its incorporation in 2000.
See the Auditor’s dashboard here: https://www.auditor.ca.gov/bsa/cities_risk_index