Budget Explorer · City of Mesa
Comparable revenue, spending, and debt for City of Mesa, on the same Census classification used for every city, county, and state in the Library — so the figures line up with peers rather than with the government's own budget book. Latest year: FY ending Jun 30, 2024. City of Mesa's own FY2027 budget, in its own structure, follows below.
Total revenue
$1.13B
$2,207 per resident
Total spending
$1.31B
$2,550 per resident
Spending per resident
$2,550
26th percentile of 71
Debt outstanding
$1.87B
$3,641 per resident · 46th percentile of 70
Own-source share
84%
64th percentile of 71
Capital share
15%
42nd percentile of 71
Own-source revenue (taxes, charges, interest) versus aid from other governments. Utility and trust revenue are shown alongside general revenue but run on their own books.
Own-source share of general revenue 84% · federal aid 0% · property tax is 11% of taxes
Current operations plus capital outlay, grouped by Census function. Interest on debt and transfers to other governments are broken out so they are not hidden inside services.
| Function | Category | Operating | Capital | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Police protection | Public safety | $256M | $45M | $300M |
| Highways | Transportation | $118M | $49M | $167M |
| Fire protection | Public safety | $140M | — | $140M |
| General (unallocable) | General government | $26M | $85M | $110M |
| Water utility | Utilities (water, power, gas) | $91M | — | $91M |
| Parks & recreation | Culture & recreation | $69M | $18M | $86M |
| Financial administration | General government | $54M | — | $54M |
| Sewerage | Environment & housing | $53M | — | $53M |
| Electric utility | Utilities (water, power, gas) | $43M | — | $43M |
| Solid waste management | Environment & housing | $40M | — | $40M |
| Gas utility | Utilities (water, power, gas) | $33M | — | $33M |
| Housing & community development | Environment & housing | $30M | — | $30M |
| Judicial & legal | General government | $26M | — | $26M |
| Transit | Transportation | $24M | — | $24M |
Nominal dollars. The Census Bureau cautions that single-government series are edited only for aggregates — read direction, not decimals.
Revenue
-2% over 2 yrs
$1.16B → $1.13B
Spending
+20% over 2 yrs
$1.09B → $1.31B
Debt outstanding
+4% over 2 yrs
$1.80B → $1.87B
Percentile within the cohort on each place's latest Census year. Higher is not better — the last column says what a high reading means so you can decide whether it matters here.
| Measure | City of Mesa | Cohort median | Percentile | Higher means |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spending per resident | $2,550 | $3,741 | 26th | more spent per resident |
| Revenue per resident | $2,207 | $3,548 | 11th | more raised per resident |
| Taxes per resident | $820 | $1,328 | 15th | heavier own-tax load |
| Debt per resident | $3,641 | $3,865 | 46th | more borrowed per resident |
| Own-source share of revenue | 84% | 81% | 64th | less dependent on aid |
| Federal aid share of revenue | 0% | 7% | 4th | more exposed to federal cuts |
| Capital share of spending | 15% | 18% | 42nd | more building, less operating |
| Interest share of spending | 5% | 4% | 71st | more spend servicing debt |
| Debt ÷ annual revenue | 1.65× | 1.05× | 81st | more leveraged |
Spot an error, or know a better source for this place's adopted budget? Suggest an edit on the assessment.
Adopted budget · FY2027
City of Mesa's own budget, in its own structure, from its open-data portal. This is the current year — more recent than the Census series above, but only comparable to this city's own history. Totals cover 39 departments.
Looking for how this fits City of Mesa's capacity to deliver? The fiscal dimension, binding constraint, and pathways live in the City of Mesa capacity assessment.
The Civic Infrastructure Diagnostic Framework’s structural elements — the four cluster labels, the six capacity dimensions, and the binding-constraint framing — are licensed under CC BY 4.0. Anyone may use or adapt them with attribution. Tool implementation and full article text © 2026 JTV Advisory LLC.