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 voted on at the session.

Why it matters: The council’s direction determines how a portion of the manager’s proposed budget is applied and affects residents’ tax bills, school funding and city reserves in the coming fiscal year.

Council and staff laid out the math and trade-offs. Staff said a one-cent change in the rate equals about $770,000 in revenue and that the “flat-bill” rate (the rate that would hold an average homeowner’s bill steady despite higher assessments) was about $1.187 under the assumptions presented. The manager’s proposed $1.26 rate produced more flexibility for the council to maintain reserves and fund services; council members who opposed deeper cuts said lowering the rate further could weaken the city’s financial position over several years.

Councilwoman Vasquez Luna said she supported a two-cent reduction from $1.26 to $1.24 and asked that any remaining unassigned funds be placed in reserves for later allocation, while other members urged caution given economic uncertainty and possible federal or state impacts on local budgets.

Diane, a finance staff member, summarized the city’s position on reserves: “We are in good financial shape right now,” and reminded the council of the city’s reserve policy, which staff said aims to maintain an unassigned general-fund balance at or near 20 percent (the documented policy minimum is 15 percent).

Council discussion also touched the advertised maximum rate ($1.28 under the budget advertisement) and related utility-rate assumptions used in the manager’s proposed budget. Staff repeatedly told the council they had not budgeted revenue that might come from certain business personal-property filings and were verifying filings as required before relying on any such receipts.

The council did not take a formal vote on the final budget or tax ordinances at the work session. Instead, members recorded their positions and instructed staff to prepare budget documentation consistent with the direction given: adopt a $1.26 tax-rate assumption for drafting and prepare the budget language and ordinance materials needed for the council’s upcoming public hearings and formal vote.

Looking ahead: Staff said they will return the recommended ordinance language and a draft budget reflecting the $1.26 rate and the provisional allocations so the council can act at its scheduled public meetings. The allocation list is subject to change before final adoption and the council repeatedly emphasized these were guidance-level decisions, not final appropriations.