Mayor, city manager report state of the city

By Amanda Rogers

Mansfield Record

The state of the city is strong, reported Mansfield Mayor Michael Evans, who presented an update about city affairs, along with city manager Joe Smolinski, at The Grand View event center Thursday.

The annual event gives residents a chance to meet city officials and staff and learn about what is going on in the city. A morning session and evening session were both filled to capacity with 300 in attendance at each.

Mansfield currently has 87,472 residents, they reported, with the city projected to exceed 100,000 people by the end of 2027.

“Texas is one of the fastest-growing states in the nation, and the DFW Metroplex is one of the fastest-growing areas in the state,” Smolinski said. “We can’t pull up the drawbridge and stop the flow.”

Smolinski and Evans reported these city updates:

- Median income in Mansfield is $120,000, with 45 percent of the population having a bachelor’s degree or higher.

- Six percent of residents live below the poverty line.

- Mansfield Fire Station No. 1 moving from South Main Street to East Broad and Walnut Creek Drive.

- A new animal shelter for 130 dogs and 135 cat kennels is scheduled to be completed by summer 2026.

- The Chris Burkett Service Center is undergoing an expansion.

- $72 million is budgeted for infrastructure improvements, a 53 percent increase over the past four years.

- East Broad Street will be widened from Mo’ Bettahs Hawaiian Style Food, 3020 E. Broad St., to Texas 360.

- The eastbound side of Heritage Parkway from Business 287 to US 287 will be redone. The westbound side has already been redone.

- A longer left turn lane is being installed at the Cannon Drive and Matlock Road intersection.

- Urban 3 has been hired to study sustainable land uses.

- There are 6,400 lots currently in development.

- The average new home in Mansfield costs $643,000.

- Liquor stores, which were approved in the May election, must be part of a planned development and be at least 25,000 square feet.

- Visits to the Mansfield Public Library are up 120 percent.

- Mansfield’s property tax rate is at 61.5 cents per $100 of assessed value, down from 71 cents in 2020.

- The city’s homestead exemption is 16 percent, up from the 10 percent exemption, which was put into place in 2020.

- Mansfield has $33,100,100 in reserves, and has paid of $15,100,000 in debt early.

- Sales tax increased to $19,574,658 in 2023.

- Construction will begin on the Watermill District at Broad and Main streets in 2025.

- Main Street District townhouses, which will start at $750,000 each, will be built where the current Mansfield Economic Development Corp. building sits, 301 S. Main St.

- Geyer Commons gathering space and wiffle ball field are under construction at the old Geyer Field, 547 E. Broad St.

- There will be no roundabout at the Main and Broad streets intersection, but downtown will become more walkable.

- A new city hall complex will open by December 2026 on Heritage Parkway with a river walk and gathering space.

- Rose Park is currently being revamped.

- A veterans’ memorial park is being constructed at Julian Feild Park on East Broad Street.

- The city has purchased 100 acres in west Mansfield for a nature preserve.

- Staybolt Street Entertainment District is being constructed south of the old Big League Dreams ballparks east of Texas 360 off Heritage Parkway. The district will include High 5 Entertainment with a rooftop concert venue for 600.

- Big League Dreams (now the Mansfield Sports Park) will have a multi-sport indoor facility, Miracle League Field, revamped restaurants and turf fields.

- A hotel and conference center will begin construction in 2025 in the Staybolt Street Entertainment District.

- Mansfield Stadium, a professional soccer stadium with 7,000 seats, is being built in the Staybolt Street Entertainment District.

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