After two moratorium extensions in 2025, it officially ended Nov. 30.

The new year began in the Princeton Municipal Center with two new councilmembers, a new mayor and several new issues for them to deal with. By the end of the year the city was looking for a new city manager.

Terrance Johnson outpolled Place 1 Councilmember David Kleiber in the Nov. 4, 2024, general election and Cristina Todd succeeded Marlo Obera.

A runoff was needed Dec. 14 in the race for mayor and Eugene Escobar Jr. beat incumbent Brianna Chacon. The two emerged from a five-way race and Escobar, who campaigned for more transparency in city government, won the runoff with nearly 56% of the votes cast.

Fred Gibbs, former director of development services for the town of Little Elm, joined Allison Cook as an assistant city manager and was named interim manager when City Manager Mike Mashburn took an extended leave at the end of the year.

However, Gibbs resigned Dec. 1 and Mashburn gave notice on Dec. 8.

Princeton hired Shailaja “Shai” Roos as development services director. She succeeded Craig Fisher, who has become planning and zoning administrator. Roos has been a planning consultant and was a former chief planner for the city of Dallas and director of development services for the city of Burleson.

After 45 years in the fire service, Fire Chief Tom Harvey retired after taking Princeton from a volunteer department in 2013 to an all-paid professional department.

He was succeeded by Chief Shannon Stephens, who served 24 years with the fire department in The Colony and came to Princeton from Harker Heights.

Fire protection became a crucial issue for residents living outside the city limits as the city decided it could no longer afford to provide service for the money Collin County was providing 22 cities for years.

In November, rural residents approved creation of an emergency services district that will contract for service directly with cities, funded by a new property tax set by board members appointed by Collin County commissioners.

During its second extension of a moratorium on new residential construction, Princeton in May became America’s fastest-growing city by population percentage. The U.S. Census Bureau said 2024 data showed Princeton had a 30.6% growth rate, up from the previous year’s 22.3%.

lation percentage. The U.S. Census Bureau said 2024 data showed Princeton had a 30.6% growth rate, up from the previous year’s 22.3%.

Princeton increased its population by nearly one-third in just one year and has more than doubled it since 2020, from roughly 17,000 to 37,000 as of July 2024, the Census Bureau said. However, local officials estimated the city’s population at more than 40,000 people.

The housing moratorium, enacted in September 2024, expired at the end of November and a new Texas law blocks the city for imposing another building ban for another two years.

The city’s financial outlook remained strong as Fitch Ratings assigned a ‘AA+’ rating to $54.6 million in general obligation bonds and $24.6 million in combination tax and surplus revenue certificates of obligation.

Nonetheless, some councilmembers called for a complete forensic audit of city accounts and agreed for auditors to examine the renovation of the Community Center since its purchased by the Princeton Community Development Corporation (PCDC) in 2015.

The corporation bought the former church at 416 N. 4th St. and the entire city block for nearly $138,000 and approved a repair budget of $1.245 million.

It was dedicated in August 2022 but closed in March 2024 for more work, not to exceed $500,000.

Meanwhile, residents discovered the city had repealed in September 2024 the change in wastewater billing adopted in April 2023. The city then refunded nearly $1 million in sewer charges because it had never implemented winter quarter averaging of wastewater bills.

No explanation was available for why the rates never changed, the same problem that existed when hundreds of residents received delinquent tax notices. The Collin County Tax Assessor-Collector said the city never officially notified Collin Central Appraisal District (CCAD) of annexations dating from 2016.

City Council voted to waive penalties and interest until a solution was found to deal with three years of back taxes often levied on property before the current owners took possession.

In July, CCAD, certified a 19.70% increase in total taxable property value in Princeton, to $4.76 billion, with $519.6 million in new construction and annexations. The 2025 average market value of a home in Princeton was estimated at $333,631.

Council later adopted a budget for FY2025-26 with government-wide expenditures, transfers, and capital projects totaling nearly $179.9 million. The city property tax rate was set at $0.4402 per $100 in valuation.

Councilmembers voted to use $60 million of a $109 million bond package approved by voters in 2023 for a multi-generational recreation center with outdoor pool on Myrick Lane, $1 million for renovations to the Lois Nelson Public Library, $6.5 million for a skate facility at JJ “Book” Wilson Park and more than $4 million in artificial turf for Caldwell Park.

Allocating sales tax revenue, the PCDC and council agreed to spend up to $50,000 per year to maintain three U.S. Army Corps of Engineers parks on Lake Lavon:  Twin Groves Park, Tickey Creek Park and Clear Lake Park. Officials also endorsed $50,000 in the name of late Officer Nancy Dominguez to fund law enforcement scholarships for Princeton students. Dominguez, 32, died in a traffic accident in April 2024.

More details emerged for Princeton Town Center planned for the northwest corner of North Beauchamp Boulevard and Princeton Drive with developers confirming it could contain a Kroger Marketplace, Home Depot, PetSmart, T.J.Maxx, HomeGoods and Hobby Lobby.

A decade-old development, the Princeton Luxury Apartments on U.S. Highway 380, was renamed Ironwood at Princeton and the new owners wrestled with a variety of challenges to continue construction.

Zoning was approved in 2015 and construction began in February 2022 on more than 306 units in a dozen three-story buildings, a clubhouse and pool. The project halted abruptly in May of 2023 as subcontractors sought payment and two developers competed for the 16.6-acre site next to Walmart.

Another project that wound up in court was Megatel Homes’ Sicily Laguna on Longneck Road/Highway 75 north of the city where the developer blocked the city’s attempt to collect a penalty for noncompletion of the promised lagoon and other facilities. Meanwhile, the residential neighborhood is still being built.

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