The California State Auditor’s Office assesses the fiscal health of the state’s cities and posts the information on Fiscal Health of California Cities (www.auditor.ca.gov/ bsa/cities_risk_index). The purpose of the site is to help citizens and others with a transparent and data-driven picture of each city’s fiscal risk. To complete this case, you will need to access the Fiscal Health of California Cities website.

Required

a. Identify the factors on which the risk assessment is based.

b. Identify the top five cities facing fiscal challenges.

c. What were common factors on which all five cities appeared to be at high risk?

d. Click on the live link that allows you to view the full interactive map for all California cities to answer the following:

1. For a city to be considered low risk, what is the minimum number of points out of 100 required? How many points must a city earn before it can be moved out of the high-risk category?

2. Select a city of your choice in California and assess it for overall risk and on the 10 financial indicators on which the overall risk assessment is based. (Note: You can obtain city risk levels by typing in the city of your choice in the search field.)