The Prince William Board of County Supervisors held its public hearing on a proposed tax increase, where the average homeowner could pay a $4,905 Real Estate tax bill, up $72 from last year, starting July 1.
County Executive Christopher Shorter dropped the proposed tax rate by one cent, to .966 cents on every $100 of assessed home value, from when he first proposed his 2024 budget on February 28. While the proposed rate is lower than the current $1.03 rate, increased property values mean homeowners will pay more.
“I’m glad to see the tax rate is going down. I hope people are paying attention,” said Woodbridge District Supervisor Margaret Franklin.
The public hearing started at 9:02 p.m. on Tuesday, April 11, and lasted 20 minutes. Those who spoke said the county should do more to fund robotics programs in the public schools, hire more police officers, and lower taxes to help make a living in Prince William County more affordable for seniors.
“The only way my parents can afford to live here in this county is in my home,” said one resident.
“We’re 363 officers short of where our comprehensive plan says we should be, and you’re not planning to hire any new officers,” said Barbra Dodge. While the county’s comprehensive plan does call for more, Prince William County has 707 police officer positions on its rolls, and is short about 75, said Chief Peter Newsham on March 31.
Violent crime has been up 70% in Prince William County since 2019.
The 2024 budget, which takes effect July 1, aims to fund salary increases for public safety personnel in the sheriff’s office, fire and rescue, and jail. Last year, supervisors gave police officers a 17% pay hike, bringing the annual starting pay for a new police officer to $62,000.
One of the budget drivers is a new crisis receiving center, which will take in mental patients when it opens in what was a Gander Mountain store next to Potomac Mills mall in Woodbridge. It’ll cost about $3.8 million a year to operate, with $2.1 million coming from the state.
Other budget priorities supervisors told Shorter they would like to see in the budget is $500,000 for landscaping projects across the county. There’s another half-million dollars to fund a new community events department to continue to help organize events like a Christmastime lights show at the Neabsco Boardwalk in Woodbridge and a series of Friday evening community parties at the government center.
The boardwalk lights event began last year and was funded with $150,000 in coronavirus relief funding given to the county by the state government, said county parks and recreation director Seth Handler Voss.
Tuesday marked the first time supervisors heard of the new county events department, which Shorter would fire one full-time and one part-time employee to staff. Supervisor Victor Angry suggested the county develop a protocol for how many events could be held in the county’s seven magisterial districts and suggested limiting the events to two each.
Supervisor Jeanine Lawson cautioned, saying she doesn’t want to compete with private businesses the county could hire to produce community. Shorter told PLN he was open to working with any business. However, the county government has yet to enter talks with any private business to produce its community events.
Supervisor Yesli Vega accused Shorter of wanting to grow the local government. “In the past, if we’ve had an event in our district, we’ve paid for it out of our office budgets. I’d rather see this extra money [for the events department] go to public safety,” said Vega.
Board Chair At-large Ann Wheeler said the boardwalk lights event attracted tourists. Potomac District Supervisor Andrea Bailey wants to spend $150,000 on a new tourism master plan to target would-be visitors, supplementing the work of the county’s tourism office.
There’s also a $2.5 million plan to dredge Quantico Creek in Dumfries. Four years ago, the county spent $750,000 to dredge nearby Neabsco Creek, popular with boaters and home to a county fire and rescue boat. Private marinas that operated on the creek matched the spending with $250,000, funding the $1 million project.
Public defenders would also get a raise, which could cost taxpayers about $360,000.
The county schools will benefit from the higher tax bills, adding about $13.4 million to its $1.5 billion annual budget. Prince William is one of at least two jurisdictions in the state that automatically gives more than half of its local government budget to its public schools.
The higher rate will also create a $10.4 million budget surplus. Meanwhile, the county is flush with cash after introducing a new meals tax last year that generated about $35 million, about $11 million more than anticipated.
County Budget Director Michelle Atreed said overall tax revenues are up $34 million, with a 19% increase in industrial tax revenue and a 15% data center tax revenue increase. However, most of the increases came from personal property taxes, as used cars appreciated in value over the last year — a stark change from when used cars typically lost value.
On April 18, supervisors will hold an annual budget markup session to decide what to leave in the funding plan and what to remove. The board is expected to approve the budget on April 25.
If the budget is approved without significant changes, it’ll be the third year in a row Real Estate tax bills have increased for county residents.
A group of leading Prince William County Republican Party voices is denouncing Republican candidate for Board of County Supervisors chair Kenn Knarr as a “Democrat masquerading as a Republican.”
The Prince William County circus is never short on sideshows.
In eastern Prince William, we’re gambling on “The Rose.” In western Prince William, we’ve bet the house on data centers.
The latest Prince William County Police Department report shows our violent crime rate has skyrocketed since 2019. Good luck getting those winnings home from the casino.
Our Absence-of-Planning Office is absolutely melting down after a series of controversial decisions that prioritized developer exploitation over prudent land use. Senior planning staff runs for their professional lives without a word of explanation. Are even the exiles muzzled by non-disclosure agreements?
Just when you think you need a breath of fresh air, there isn’t any. Despite our sustainability goals, Prince William County is one of two Northern Virginia counties increasing its greenhouse gas emissions. As if no one’s paying attention, our earth-moving and clear-cutting Chair At-large Ann Wheeler dons environmental lipstick to gloss over her abysmal record before a Green Business Council invented by her husband.
And when you’re drowning, you can always count on our self-serving friends along Pageland Lane to throw you an anchor. Ken Knarr has generously stepped forward to claim Pete Candland’s financially-conflicted “what’s-in-it-for-me?” role in the Republican primary. This stunt is most likely designed to dilute the burgeoning opposition to our beleaguered Chair.
For all these “services,” you got a tax increase. In the alternate universe of Ann Wheeler, this bedlam is supposed to merit her re-election. She has inexplicably chosen to run on a record most would be running from.
Pulling off this con requires an awful lot of voter disengagement. Don’t fall for it. Vote for Deshundra Jefferson in the June 20 Democratic primary.
Bill Wright
Gainesville
UPDATED APRIL 10, 2023
Here’s the latest list of candidates seeking office in Prince William County in 2023.
We see candidates listed for
- State Senate
- House of Delegates
- County Board of Supervisors
- Sheriff
- Commonwealth Attorney
- School Board
https://www.potomaclocal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/NOVGEN23_Consolidated_List_of_Candidates_by_Locality_04-06-23_Deadline-DRAFT.pdf
Prince William County Police Chief Peter Newsham will be front and center during the Board of County Supervisors meeting at 2 p.m. Tuesday, April 4, 2023, to update elected leaders about crime in the county.
According to Newsham’s 2o22 executive summary, the violent crime rate jumped an eye-popping 70% from 2019 to 2022, which includes murder, manslaughter, rape, sodomy, and robbery (outlined on page 48 of the department’s 2021 report).
The overall crime rate rose 23% in the past year, with 38 crimes per every 1,000 county residents reported, up from 32 in 2021. Even more alarming, the murder rate doubled in a year, with 20 homicides in 15 incidents in 2022.
All but two of the 2022 murder cases have been solved.
Last week, we reported Newsham said the crime report would be released soon and that it “doesn’t look good.” Newsham’s executive summary was found in Tuesday’s meeting agenda as a precursor to a more detailed crime report for 2022 that will be released at a to-be-determined date.
The crime rate has skyrocketed under the leadership of the current Board of County Supervisors, controlled by Democrats, and Commonwealth Attorney Amy Ashworth (D), who took office in 2020.
Under Ashworth, grand jury indictments have fallen from more than 200 to about 70 per month, despite supervisors providing additional funding to the commonwealth attorney to hire more staff.
In a January 2023 interview with this news organization, Ashworth denied the rising crime rate and stated it was a “Republican narrative repeated only by people who watch Fox News.” Ashworth also explained that indicting more people, as was done under her predecessor, Paul Ebert, a Democrat, was just a means to put numbers in a board to increase state funding.
“That incentive is completely contrary to what you do as a prosecutor,” Ashworth told PLN, who added those caught with cocaine for the first time should not face felony charges. Republican Matt Lowery is challenging Ashworth in the November 2023 General Election.
Also, on Tuesday, we expect an update from the county’s transportation department, which is constructing new interchanges on Prince William Parkway near Manassas at Balls Ford and Brentsville roads.
During the 7:30 p.m. session, School Board Chairman Dr. Babur Lateef will present the school division’s $2.4 billion budget. The school division’s budget is tied to supervisors’ set real estate tax rate set to be approved later this month.
The county is slated to give the school system $192 million, its largest funding share, when combined with state and federal money.
Later, supervisors will be asked to rezone 51 acres from Planned Business District to Planned Mixed Residential for 334 age-restricted homes.
The meeting is held at 1 County Complex Court in Woodbridge. The afternoon session begins at 2 p.m., and the evening session at 7:30 p.m.
Can’t go? You can watch live and archived meeting videos here.
Crime in Virginia's second-largest jurisdiction is up over last year, with a crime rate of about 37 crimes to every 1,000 people, approaching a high not seen since 2009, Newsham told PLN. Police investigated 20 homicides in the county in 2022, double the number of murders in 2021.
In one incident, four people were shot and killed inside a home in Dale City. David Nathaniel Maine, the suspect who had a relationship with a family member of the victims, heads for a preliminary hearing in General District Court on April 14, 2023.
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Assistant County Executive Rebecca Horner is the latest to jump ship at the Prince William County Government.
A county spokeswoman confirmed Horner's registration effective May 1, 2023. She declined to provide a copy of Horner's resignation letter, citing it as confidential.
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Tom Gordy announced his candidacy for the open Brentsville District supervisor seat in Prince William County.
The Republican represents the Brentsville District on the Prince William County Planning Commission and Veterans Commission. He aims to replace Jeanine Lawson, who represented the district since 2014 and is now running to replace Ann Wheeler (D) as Prince William Board of Supervisors Chair At-large.
As of today, Gordy is running unopposed. The General Election is November 7, 2023. No newcomer to politics, Gordy ran against the late State Senator Charles Colgan in 2011 and lost.
Lawson endorsed Gordy. Meanwhile, evoking rhetoric often heard in national politics, Wheeler labeled Lawson, her Republican opponent, as “an extreme MAGA Republican who is dangerous for our county,” Wheeler stated in a press release to PLN.
Wheeler faces a Primary challenger, Deshundra Jefferson, who has criticized Wheeler for her willingness to allow data centers to be built outside of industrial areas.
All eight seats on the Prince William Board of County Supervisors are up this fall.
Last month, Republican Bob Weir was elected to the neighboring Gainesville District to serve the remainder of Peter Candland’s term, ending December 31, 2023. Weir has not announced a bid for reelection to the seat in the fall.
More from Gordy’s campaign announcement:
The store will be the future site of a new Prince William County Government crisis receiving center designed to help residents experiencing a mental breakdown. The center will provide a place, other than a hospital or jail, for patients to receive help and recover.
More in a press release:
As Prince William County’s new Crisis Receiving Center and Community Services Building continues to be built, Prince William County and Potomac District Supervisor Andrea Bailey welcomed Senator Tim Kaine for a tour and round table discussion on Monday, March 20, 2023.
The Crisis Receiving Center, located on Worth Avenue in Woodbridge, will address the well-being of people experiencing a behavioral health crisis. The walk-in center will have 16 beds for adults experiencing a mental health or substance use crisis who need intervention and 23 recliners where people can receive assessment and treatment for up to 23 hours. The CRC will also help divert people from the criminal justice system.
Supervisor Bailey and Community Services Director Lisa Madron led Senator Kaine and other stakeholders on a tour of the Crisis Receiving Center. Following the tour of the facility, Senator Kaine joined Supervisor Bailey and Madron, as well as several county and state officials, community leaders and subject matter experts, for a Mental Health Round Table Discussion. The discussion focused on rising mental health issues and resources to combat this crisis affecting Prince William County residents and Virginians.
“We were honored to host Senator Kaine and share the county’s progress on the Crisis Receiving Center,” said Supervisor Bailey. “Champions of this project have helped to secure federal, state and local funding essential in opening the Crisis Receiving Center later next year.”
Funding for the facility was announced in a press conference in July 2022, and Connections Health Solutions was selected as the vendor to operate the Crisis Receiving Center in November 2022. On May 11, 2023, the Department of Community Services will host a Dedication and Intention Setting Ceremony on-site. The ceremony is intended as the first step in actualizing the vision of the CRC in changing how the community sees, treats and supports those in mental health crisis.
Residents will have the chance to speak out about a plan to introduce red light and speed cameras to roads in Prince William County.
The Board of County Supervisors voted to set a public hearing, likely scheduled for Tuesday, April 11, 2023. In a proposed pilot program, supervisors want public feedback on adding speed cameras at 13 school zones and red light cameras at eight interactions to get drivers to slow down.
