Manassas City Council Proposes Tax Increases for Residents

Manassas City Council proposed a $330 million operating budget for Fiscal Year 2014, a budget that includes increases in tax bills for city residents.

 The proposed budget would increase the average real estate tax bill by more than 8 percent.  Townhouse dwellers will see the biggest increase in their tax bill—$301 on average—or 14 percent, according to the proposed budget.

The city council proposed budget was presented on Monday. The entire presentation is posted on the right and on the Manassas city website.

 People and entities owning apartment complexes will see the second greatest increase in the real estate tax bill. Projections indicate an average increase of about 13 percent.

Industrial property will see the least real estate tax bill increase. The average increase is expected to be about 5 percent.

The city’s real estate tax rate, which is different from the real estate tax bill, will also increase under the council’s proposed budget.

 The budget calls for a total real estate tax rate of $1.436 per hundred dollars of a property's accessed value—7 cents more than the current rate of $1.366.

At council's request, the general property tax rate, which is part of the total real estate tax rate, did not increase, but will remain at $1.192.

A portion of the 7 cent increase will pay for a tax levy that will replace the $817,000 from the that expires next year.

Another portion of the 7 cents will go toward funding the city’s Capital Improvement Plan (CIP.)

The CIP is the city's plan for five years and beyond and includes money for upgrades to the city and the school division, he said.

 The city's five year plan includes more than $71 million for: a new fire station, improvements to Prince William and Main Streets and drainage improvements on Portner Avenue, Battle and Main Streets.

It also includes more than $57 million for Manassas City Public Schools.

The schools will use that  $57 million to: build a new Baldwin School and address division-wide maintenance issues.

 It does not include a new administration building for school division staff. The division will be looking into some office space leasing options in the future, said Councilman Marc Aveni, who is presented council's proposed budget on Monday.

Aveni said that the council didn't agree unanimously on its approach to the CIP.

He and Councilman Ian Lovejoy voted against increasing the tax rate by so much in one year in order to fund the CIP. 

Aveni said he and Lovejoy would rather have a smaller tax rate increase and fund the CIP over several years.

The 2014 budget isn’t finalized just yet. The public will have a chance to weigh in on city council’s proposed budget on Monday, April 22 at 7:30 p.m. in council chambers.

Two days later on April 24, there will be a council work session, where the public is invited to speak. 

Council members also said they want the public to contact them personally by phone or email about the budget.

The final budget won’t be approved until May.

Read more on the Manassas budget process:

Real Estate Taxes Could Increase for Manassas Residents