Santa Ana, California ranks #50 in TIA’s latest report

A new report on the financial condition of the 75 most populous cities ranks Santa Ana no.50 in the nation for fiscal health. The report is based on the cities’ 2021 annual comprehensive financial reports, which are not analyzed on this scale by any other organization.

The analysis by Truth in Accounting (TIA), a nonprofit government finance watchdog group, found Santa Ana would need $565.7 million to get out of the red, or $5,600 from each of its taxpayers.

According to the fiscal watchdog's annual Financial State of the Cities report, Santa Ana had $1.02 billion in bills and only $458.9 million in available assets to pay those bills after capital and restricted assets are excluded. This resulted in a $565.7 million shortfall, or a $5,600 Taxpayer Burden™, which is each taxpayer's share of the municipal debt after the city's available assets have been tapped.

After the Covid-pandemic, in large part due to unrealized gains in stock market valuation of its pension investments and federal government stimulus money, Santa Ana’s financial condition appeared to improve. Despite apparent improvements, Santa Ana had a Taxpayer Burden™ of $5,600, earning it an “D” grade from Truth in Accounting.

The city’s pension liability is calculated by subtracting earned and promised benefits from the market value of pension assets. Based on an exceptionally good year in the markets in 2021, the pension assets’ values were high. The result was a dramatic decrease in Santa Ana’s pension liability and a corresponding decrease in its money needed to pay bills. Even with inflated pension asset values, the city had set aside only 68 cents for every dollar of promised pension benefits and no money was set aside for promised retiree health care benefits.

You can read the full report here and Santa Ana's individual report here.