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Mansfield staff previews FY26 budget; flags $4 million general-fund capital shortfall and homestead-exemption timetable
Summary
City finance staff told the council the FY26 budget is a high-level preview: personnel requests were pared slightly, capital requests total about $7.2 million against roughly $3.0 million available, producing an approximate $4.0 million shortfall; staff outlined a plan to raise the homestead exemption from 16% toward 20% over two years.
Mansfield finance staff presented a high-level preview of the fiscal year 2026 budget on Monday, telling the City Council that key revenue inputs remain preliminary and that the draft includes a substantial gap between capital requests and funds available.
"Property tax valuations revenue is about 56% of our total budget," said Mr. Listina, the finance presentation lead, underscoring why certified appraisal rolls and protest activity will shape the final numbers. He said staff currently shows about $3,000,000 available in the general-fund capital account against requests totaling roughly $7.2 million, creating an approximate $4,000,000 shortfall that will require recommendations for reductions or other adjustments.
Why it matters: property-tax roll timing and protests can materially change revenue estimates before staff must present the charter-mandated preliminary balanced budget on July 28. Mr. Listina warned that appraisal districts’ processing of protests — about $1.46 billion in values were under protest in staff’s May estimate — means early figures remain subject to change.
On the council’s long-standing homestead-exemption objective, staff reiterated the multi-step approach the council requested. "Remember the request from council has been that we try to get the homestead exemption to 20%. If you recall, we're currently at 16%. Hopefully 2% to get us to 18, and then in 2027 budget year, make that final step into the 20%," Mr. Listina said. Staff told the council that any change must meet appraisal-district deadlines; to be reflected on the July 1 appraisal roll, the council would need to adopt the change during the upcoming cycle.
Personnel and public-safety costs drove much of the discussion. Staff said the January personnel request of 42 positions had been trimmed by four and highlighted several specific items: conversion of a vacancy to a paralegal position in the city manager’s office, and open positions in the fire department including firefighter/paramedics and a community paramedic post. On compensation, the city has performed a salary survey against 12 peer cities and staff said a possible police and fire step-plan adjustment could cost on the order of $2.0 million to bring pay toward the top 25% of those peers.
"We are just comparing base salary," Mr. Listina said, noting the survey does not always include stipends or other benefits used by peer cities. He also pointed to certification pay for police and fire, which can add up to $4,800 per year for employees who qualify.
Next steps: staff outlined an engagement calendar leading to the preliminary balanced budget presentation on July 28, public hearings in August and September and final adoption by the charter deadline (September 15). The council scheduled deeper workshops — including an out-of-town July 17 session with executive staff and department chiefs — to review department requests and options to close the capital shortfall.
The council made no binding decisions on the step plan or homestead-exemption changes at the meeting; staff will return with more detailed financial impacts and options in subsequent sessions.
