MANASSAS, Va. — City leaders are set to approve a budget that will include multiple capital improvement projects for the city like a new library/museum, public safety center, and transportation improvements.
At a budget work session Wednesday night, the council took a preliminary vote to increase tax revenue collection by $2.1 million to fund the CIP. A final decision will be made at the council’s regular meeting Monday night.
If the $230 million proposed budget is approved, residents will see an average property tax increase of about 4 percent, with the property owner paying an average of $84 per year. The city’s budget will be about 7 percent larger, with a focus on funding public safety, schools, and economic development.
Personal property taxes for cars, trailers, and boats will increase to $3.60 per $100 of assessed value. It’s 10 cents less than neighboring Prince William County, said Manassas City Manager Patrick Pate.
The CIP budget would grow by 14 percent over the previous year. Of the multiple projects outlined on the city’s wish list, a new police station — the biggest ticket item on the list — is the most important for Councilman Mark Wolfe.
“The new police station — some call it a public safety center, but it’s a police station — we need. Our current station was built however many years ago when our police force was smaller than it is today. Today, it’s overcrowded, and we have issues with preservation of evidence, maintaining, and storing evidence,” explained Wolfe.
The cramped working conditions are also forcing officers to take police jobs outside the city, he added.
A new public safety facility would be located at the Grant Avenue Shopping Center, in place of an old flea market the city acquired last year and closed. If funded, the $24 million facility would open by June 2021 and would house the entire police force as well as the city’s 911 communications center.
The city also needs a new fire station on its south side. A new $8.6 million station could go on city-owned land replacing Lee Manor Park next to George C. Round Elementary School.
Currently, the city has a fire station and a rescue station, both in Downtown about a mile apart. A new station located in this mostly residential area would improve 911 response times, said Pate.
There’s a total of $28 million in proposed funding for transportation improvements like a $13.5 million project to widen Route 28 to six lanes at Prince William Parkway, which would match similar work underway by Prince William County to widen its stretch of Route 28 in that area.
There’s also a $7.5 million project slated to improve Grant Avenue between Wellington Road and Prince William Street. The effort would add new dedicated turns lanes, a bike path, a median, and streetscaping to match the northern section of Grant Avenue north of Downtown.
A combination library and museum building to replace the current Manassas Museum was first introduced in 2001. This 39,000 square foot space would cost $18.2 million and would be placed on what today is the Manassas Museum lawn, and could be complete by 2021 if funded.
Others on the city council said the city needs to grow, but some of the projects, like the proposed library/museum, are not ready for prime time.
