Manassas Park governing body approves FY26 A2 budget amendment after public hearing

The Manassas Park Governing Body on June 23 approved a resolution incorporating a fiscal year 2026 A2 budget amendment after a short public hearing that drew no speakers.

City staff told the governing body the amendment recognizes about $6.5 million in unanticipated revenue from the sale of the Carondelet property and records a net general-fund surplus of $5.255 million that will be reflected as assigned fund balance. “The net impact of the general fund is in surplus of $5.255 million,” a staff member said during the presentation.

The staff member outlined other changes in the amendment, including a roughly $4,000 net increase to the water and sewer enterprise funds, a correction that raised solid-waste expenditures by about $459 and a $100 dues increase to the Northern Virginia Regional Commission (NVRPC). Staff also said the city had to add a line to pay real-estate tax on Digital Drive because the property is not yet used for public purposes.

Councilors asked how lease and rent revenue from Digital Drive would be handled; staff said the amount the city will receive before existing leases expire likely exceeds renovation costs for a future public-works building, so the funds will go into unassigned fund balance for now.

Council members pressed staff on other items in the amendment. The increase in jail-related costs — about $60,000 for the year — was attributed to a higher average daily incarceration rate and the city’s ongoing housing of a person described during the meeting as a murder suspect. “We have a murder suspect that we have to pay for until he is convicted or acquitted,” the staff member said, describing higher off-site care and transfer costs that in some cases can reach several hundred dollars per day.

A councilor proposed adding a legislative priority asking the state to pick up costs for violent-felony incarcerations, arguing small jurisdictions cannot absorb those expenses alone; other councilors expressed support for the idea during the discussion.

Councilors also asked about personnel and capital items in the amendment. The presentation records a $40,000 vehicle purchase for an additional building inspector to expand field capacity; staff said the purchase will be a direct buy from a state contract. Staff described a building-automation controls expense as an overage rather than a new program and noted the splash-pad project is in the capital-improvement program for FY27.

With no public comment, the chair closed the hearing, and the governing body moved, seconded and approved the resolution by voice vote. The meeting then adjourned.

What’s next: the amendment and its appropriation adjustments are incorporated in city records per the approved resolution; council discussion flagged a potential future legislative priority on state support for significant incarceration costs.