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Manassas Park treasurer reports higher returns, outlines stepped-up collections and enforcement options
Summary
Treasurer Donald told the March 3 governing-body meeting that the office found missed state reimbursements, negotiated higher interest on city deposits and reported mixed collection rates across tax types; he warned of enforcement steps including debt-offset enrollment and water-sewer shutoffs to address more than 4,000 delinquent accounts.
Treasurer Donald delivered a detailed finance and collections update to the Manassas Park Governing Body on March 3, saying the office has already recovered some previously unclaimed state compensation-board revenue and is pursuing several operational changes to boost collections.
Donald framed his report around staffing and process changes, bank negotiations and collection statistics. "We were there were 10 accounts that were getting zero interest and two accounts that were getting 2.12% interest and we are going to be getting interest on all of it at 3.15 which is the treasury rate minus .35," he said, describing an agreement with the city’s bank to increase yields on city deposits. He also said the office captured compensation-board funds that had not been applied for, bringing new revenue into the city.
The treasurer walked the body through collection rates by tax type and described concrete enforcement tools. He reported the following collection snapshots presented to the governing body: business license about 92.49% collected; business personal property about 77.51% collected; meals tax about 90.58% collected; personal property about 77.58% collected; public service accounts about 98.78% collected; and prior-year real-estate collections near 99%.
Donald said returned mail remains an operational problem (36 returned envelopes that day) and that more than 4,000 accounts are currently delinquent. He described recent water and sewer enforcement actions: "We did the first water and sewer shut off about two weeks ago... we had 116 households and businesses that were shut off," he said, adding the number fell to 13 households by the weekend after payments were made.
To recover outstanding balances, the treasurer said the office will enroll in the state’s debt-offset program (called debt setoff in the presentation) to intercept state tax refunds and other disbursements for delinquent taxpayers. "When we had the state income tax refunds last year everybody got $200 or $400. We got none of that because we weren't in the program," Donald said, and he committed to adding Manassas Park to the program.
Council members pressed for details about the composition of delinquent accounts, the feasibility of proration of personal-property tax, and whether additional staff or software integration could improve collections. Donald said some measures would require additional staff or, where appropriate, legislative changes; he described plans to cross-train existing staff and pursue software and deposit efficiencies. He also noted a large pool of unpaid police tickets he will review with departments (he described roughly $1.2 million in uncollected tickets held by the police department).
Donald provided cost figures for local tax-relief programs: he said the city’s 100% disabled-veteran relief program costs about $495,528 per year and elderly-and-disabled relief about $414,730 per year, for a combined estimated cost of $910,259 annually. "There is a cost to those programs," he said, noting the impact on the tax rate.
What happens next: Donald said he will return with updates in a few months and will begin enrollment in debt-offsets and other administrative steps to improve collections; he also invited council members and residents to contact his office for more detailed figures. The governing body did not take a separate vote on the treasurer’s recommendations during the March 3 meeting.
