Carlsbad and Encinitas Top County Taxpayers Report Card

Carlsbad and Encinitas were the only two cities in San Diego County to earn an overall A grade in the 2026 Cities Report Card released last week by the San Diego County Taxpayers Association. La Mesa and Oceanside followed with A- marks. The report evaluated fiscal health and taxpayer accountability across the county's 18 municipalities.

San Diego and National City both failed the evaluation. El Cajon scored a D+. San Diego recorded the lowest fiscal-health result of any city reviewed, earning 3.9 of 11 possible points. National City posted the lowest total score at 14 of 25 points.

Carlsbad scored 20.8 of 22 possible points, the highest percentage among five North County cities evaluated. The city received a B-plus for fiscal health and an A-plus for combined accountability and transparency, meeting every applicable measure in the latter two categories. The report listed no projected structural deficit and sufficient reserves. Three tax-history measures were marked not applicable and excluded from its possible points.

Encinitas also earned an A overall. Vista scored a B-plus, with 22.3 of 25 points, and took an A in fiscal health on the strength of balanced General Fund results across all 15 years reviewed, no projected structural deficit, and reserves meeting the report's two-month minimum. San Marcos received a B-plus overall at 21.2 of 24 points, with an A-minus in fiscal health. Pension payments accounted for 9.4% of San Marcos' General Fund budget and debt service took 0.8% of the budget. Escondido earned a C overall, scoring 18.3 of 25 points, with an F in fiscal health. The report identified a projected structural deficit and reserves below the two-month minimum there, while pension payments reached 21.2% of the General Fund budget and personnel costs represented 77%.

Oceanside earned an A-minus overall, which reflected 22.8 of 25 points and a B-plus in fiscal health. The report credited Oceanside with balanced General Fund results across all 15 years reviewed, no projected structural deficit, and reserves meeting the two-month minimum. Oceanside earned full transparency marks and seven of eight points for accountability and tax history, missing only on the use of performance indicators in budgeting.

The association said it groups cities by population to allow fair comparisons and scores calculation-based measures such as pension costs, net pension liability per capita, bonded debt per capita, debt service as a share of the budget, personnel costs, and staffing per 1,000 residents against the average for each city's population group. Budgeting, reporting, and transparency criteria are also evaluated. Each city received an interim report card and an opportunity to submit feedback, documentation, or corrections.

Vista earned the top fiscal-health grade with an A, followed by Encinitas, Imperial Beach, and San Marcos at A-. The lowest fiscal-health grades went to San Diego, National City, and Escondido, which the report marked for structural budget pressures, elevated pension and personnel costs, and reserves and debt metrics that lag their peers.

Mark Kersey, president and CEO of the Taxpayers Association, said the report exists to give taxpayers an apples-to-apples look at how their city manages money. Mike McLaughlin, chairman of the association's Board of Directors, said a good grade is about discipline, planning, and honesty with taxpayers. The full report card, methodology, and scoring are available at SDTaxpayers.org.