Manassas council coalesces around $1.26 tax rate; tentatively allocates $2.15 million in unassigned funds

Manassas — At a July budget work session the Manassas City Council signaled consensus to set the city’s real-estate tax rate at $1.26 per $100 of assessed value and to tentatively allocate the roughly $2.15 million of unassigned funds that remained in the manager’s proposed budget.

Council members and staff outlined options for how to use the unassigned money, with the working plan endorsed by a majority of council members calling for $1.5 million to support school compensation, $420,000 to a social-services reserve, $100,000 for Historic Manassas Inc. (HMI) and funding to add one part-time position at the Marcella community center (the staff summary listed $130,000 for community-center staffing). Council members stressed that the allocations are a staff-directed starting point and that no final appropriations or ordinance were…