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Commentary After reviewing my ranking of Orange County cities based on their per capita unrestricted net positions, a resident approached his city council for an explanation. He was informed, in writing, that it is just “a single indicator of the financial health of a city.” This is true. It is a temperature gauge. And since every city has an annual audit and a quantifiable population, it is a simple tool to start the conversation about fiscal sustainability. Every city has a different story. But all municipalities should strive to have a positive unrestricted net position, just like good businesses should have positive retained earnings. Those stories begin to unfold with a little analyzing. In the case of one city, which we’re not naming, financial experts weighed in on the reasons for fiscal discrepancies. Many of them didn’t pass muster. Here are the four reasons cited by this city’s finance staff, …