Proposed Manassas budget would raise city homeowners’ taxes; town hall planned for Monday
Interim Manassas City Manager Douglas Keen has proposed a fiscal 2025 spending plan that would raise the average homeowner’s real estate taxes by more than $260.
During a Feb. 26 City Council meeting, Keen proposed the real estate tax rate remain at $1.26 per $100 of assessed value. Under this rate — factoring in rising assessments — the average tax bill is expected to increase by $266.
Additionally, monthly utility bills will increase by about $7.70.
City residents can weigh in on the spending plan during a town hall meeting March 18 at Jennie Dean Elementary School at 5:30 p.m. Beyond that, a public hearing will be held at the April 22 council meeting. Final approval is slated for the June 10 council meeting.
Keen said his proposed spending plan prioritizes increasing employee retention through compensation and benefits, increasing school funding, rising shared-services costs and ensuring residents the city has an effective capital improvement program, specifically within the utilities department.
Keen proposed an overall 6.7% increase in spending within the $333 million budget. The proposal increases funding in general and social services, stormwater management, the Manassas Regional Airport and IT from fiscal 2024. The plan also proposes a decrease in spending on electric and cemetery funds.
The budget includes a $1.8 million increase in funding from fiscal 2024 for Manassas City Public Schools for a total of $62.01 million in local contributions for operational support, plus an additional $6.38 million to be allocated toward debt services. Last year’s increase was specifically to address teacher compensation, according to Keen.
The budget’s primary revenue source, making up 34%, comes from property taxes followed by sales and connections fees, which make up 23% of the budget.
In 2022, the city conducted a community satisfaction survey, the results of which influenced the areas of focus for the fiscal 2025 proposed budget.
“When I looked to build the budget, I went back to the community survey and looked at what our community wanted to enhance and balance that with being efficient and effective,” Keen said.
Keen highlighted the strategic priorities of the spending plan, which include economic prosperity, community vitality, transformative mobility and sustaining excellence.
“We have heard our community speak out about investing in our schools, infrastructure and ensuring they have adequate public safety services. And at no time have I heard residents say they want any services cut,” Keen said.
Keen convened with Manassas Commissioner of Revenue Tim Demeria to determine that while the real estate assessment growth decreased from 10.79% to 6.49%, the total taxable real estate value still grew from $6.9 billion to $7.3 billion.
“This shows positive economic growth in our community,” Keen added.