Mansfield city council approved its 2019 final budget of $122 million this week, which is $5.4 million less than last year.
Councilman Cliff Mears said the vote was 6-2 in favor of the budget, which had $2 million in capital projects denied. Mears says the city has to watch its spending and now has a hiring and purchasing freeze on. Mears says the biggest issue for the city of Mansfield is the cost of health care, which cost the city $10 million in 2018 and has increased 51%, since 2014.