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City of Mansfield Annual Budget and Service Program Fiscal Year 2025-2026 Table of Contents
What does the Strategic Plan mean to the Citizens of Mansfield?
The Strategic Plan provides a blueprint of staffing, operating and capital requirements in
the FY 2025-2026 budget and anticipates requirements into future years. The plan is
adjusted annually as conditions and priorities change based on current and future growth
projections and the needs of the citizens. By identifying future needs, the City Council and
City Management are better able to plan and develop strategies to maintain current service
levels, structure debt to provide for infrastructure improvements, and maintain financial
stability. The plan identifies strengths and challenges in current and future years that
enable City Council and Management to better plan for and adjust operations as needed.
How does the Strategic Plan relate to the Fiscal Year 2026 Budget?
The FY 2025-2026 budget provides funding to maintain, or in some cases enhance, the
current service levels in all departments and provides for future growth and a strong equity
position for the city. Public Safety has been the focal point of attention in the needs
assessment provided by City Council and Management. With the expansion of the City’s
Parks and Recreation system, additional resources have also been allocated to provide
additional services for the expanding programming requirements. The ongoing
maintenance of city streets and rights of way requires resources to be allocated to this
service function as well. The Strategic Plan incorporates local, state, and national economic
trends and provides estimates for future budget years. The City reviews its various fee
structures during the budget process to adequately match fees with cost of operations.
These revenues have also been included in the FY 2025-2026 budget and projected into
future years.
How does the Strategic Plan improve overall Service Performance?
By identifying staffing, capital and operational requirements, additional resource allocation
may be adjusted to reflect the increased service demand for each department and
program. Anticipating future needs to service the expected population growth requires
each department to critically evaluate operational requirements, staffing levels and capital
equipment requirements. Limited funding refines operational efficiencies and highlights
service levels that meet or do not meet the citizens’ expectations. In summary, each
department is charged with developing new and better operational techniques to
maintain, at a minimum, the service levels demanded by both citizens and staff. The
retention of a quality workforce maintains the overall service performance at all levels of the
organization. Management and City Council have committed to providing “World Class”
services for all residents and visitors of Mansfield.
The Results of the Plan
This Strategic Plan is a financial planning model used by Management and Staff and has
become an effective tool in addressing the business concerns of the City of Mansfield. It has
become a guide, indicator and reference point for the Rating Agencies and the investment
community in assessing the credit strength of the City. This Plan is a forward-looking
statement and includes the City’s expectations, hopes, intentions and strategies regarding
the future. These forward-looking statements included herein are necessarily based on
assumptions and estimates inherently subject to various risks and uncertainties, including
the possible invalidity of the underlying assumptions and estimates, possible changes or
developments in social, economic, business, industry, market, legal and regulatory
circumstances and conditions, and actions taken or omitted by third parties, including
customers, suppliers, business partners, competitors and legislative, judicial or any other
governmental authorities or officials. Assumptions related to the foregoing involve
judgments with respect to, among other things, future economic, competitive, market
conditions and future business decisions, all of which are difficult or impossible to predict
accurately and many of which are beyond our control. Any such assumptions could be
inaccurate, and there can be no guarantee that the forward-looking statements included in
this Executive Summary will prove to be accurate or binding.
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