Potomac News Online | City Council settles on tax rate of $1
The Manassas City Council settled on a real estate tax rate of $1 per $100 of assessed value Wednesday night, and did away with a plan to increase the personal property tax on aircraft.
The new real estate tax rate represents a 15-cent reduction from the current rate, and is also two cents lower than the rate presented by the council during an April 11 meeting.
However, because of huge growth in real estate assessments, the average tax bill for Manassas residents will still increase.
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At the $1 rate, the average residential real estate tax bill in fiscal 2006 will be $2,888, Commissioner of the Revenue John Grzejka said. That’s up from an average bill of $2,623 in fiscal 2005.
The $1 rate had some close competition from a proposed rate of 99 cents. The council was deadlocked three to three on the 99-cent proposal when Mayor Doug Waldron voted against it.
Councilmen Jackson Miller and Robert Oliver, along with Vice Mayor Harry “Hal” Parrish Jr., voted in favor of the 99-cent rate. Councilmen Steven Randolph and Steven Smith voted against it, as did Councilwoman Judy Hays.
On a subsequent vote for the $1 rate, the vote was tied again — this time with Hays, Smith and Randolph voting yes and Miller, Parrish and Oliver voting no — when Waldron voted to approve the rate.
Despite voting for the 99-cent proposal, Parrish said that he was pleased with the overall rate reduction
“Well, as was said Wednesday by a number of people, 99-cents and $1 are very close to one another,” Parrish said. “A dollar gives the schools a little bit more revenue and it also gives the city a little bit more revenue. I think the difference in the two wasn’t so substantial, not nearly as substantial as the overall rate reduction that we finally decided upon.”
Reducing the real estate tax rate to $1 also means that the Manassas school system will get about $651,000 less than it would have had the $1.02 proposal been accepted. However, the current tax rate will still provide the school system with about $520,000 more than the School Board had included in its budget, finance director Pat Weiler said.
The city also abandoned a plan to increase the personal property tax on aircraft to 30 cents per $100 of assessed value, which would have been a 3,000 percent increase from the current rate of 1 cent.
During a public hearing Monday, 18 members of the aviation community spoke against the proposed rate increase. Several said that raising the rate to 30 cents would cause businesses at Manassas Regional Airport to locate elsewhere.
Wednesday night, the council returned the rate to 1 cent.
The council also decided Wednesday to defer a $737,000 bond payment until fiscal 2007, Weiler said. After the tax rate cuts and the debt deferment, the city was left with a surplus of $140,000. The council decided to put that money toward paying off bond projects, Weiler said, leaving the city with a balanced budget.
“You always have your challenges when you’re dealing with the budget,” Parrish said. “We had such tremendous increases in assessments, and that was foremost in people’s minds. The council spent a lot of time and effort on it, and we were able to reduce the tax rate by 15 cents and also get some additional tax relief for the senior citizens.”
The city’s budget proposal includes an increase in built-in tax relief for the elderly and disabled. In fiscal 2006, disabled residents or people over age 65 who have a net worth of less than $240,000 — not including the value of their home and one acre of property — will be eligible for exemption from real estate taxes if they have an annual income of less than $40,000. Households with an annual income of less than $46,000 will be eligible for a 50 percent exemption, and homes with an income of less than $52,000 per year will be allowed a 25 percent exemption.
The City Council is scheduled to take its first vote on the budget proposal Monday. If it passes, the budget would be up for final approval during a meeting April 27.
Staff writer Rob Seal can be reached at (703) 369-5718.
By ROB SEAL
The Manassas City Council settled on a real estate tax rate of $1 per $100 of assessed value Wednesday night, and did away with a plan to increase the personal property tax on aircraft.
The new real estate tax rate represents a 15-cent reduction from the current rate, and is also two cents lower than the rate presented by the council during an April 11 meeting.
However, because of huge growth in real estate assessments, the average tax bill for Manassas residents will still increase.
At the $1 rate, the average residential real estate tax bill in fiscal 2006 will be $2,888, Commissioner of the Revenue John Grzejka said. That’s up from an average bill of $2,623 in fiscal 2005.
The $1 rate had some close competition from a proposed rate of 99 cents. The council was deadlocked three to three on the 99-cent proposal when Mayor Doug Waldron voted against it.
Councilmen Jackson Miller and Robert Oliver, along with Vice Mayor Harry “Hal” Parrish Jr., voted in favor of the 99-cent rate. Councilmen Steven Randolph and Steven Smith voted against it, as did Councilwoman Judy Hays.
On a subsequent vote for the $1 rate, the vote was tied again — this time with Hays, Smith and Randolph voting yes and Miller, Parrish and Oliver voting no — when Waldron voted to approve the rate.
Despite voting for the 99-cent proposal, Parrish said that he was pleased with the overall rate reduction
“Well, as was said Wednesday by a number of people, 99-cents and $1 are very close to one another,” Parrish said. “A dollar gives the schools a little bit more revenue and it also gives the city a little bit more revenue. I think the difference in the two wasn’t so substantial, not nearly as substantial as the overall rate reduction that we finally decided upon.”
Reducing the real estate tax rate to $1 also means that the Manassas school system will get about $651,000 less than it would have had the $1.02 proposal been accepted. However, the current tax rate will still provide the school system with about $520,000 more than the School Board had included in its budget, finance director Pat Weiler said.
The city also abandoned a plan to increase the personal property tax on aircraft to 30 cents per $100 of assessed value, which would have been a 3,000 percent increase from the current rate of 1 cent.
During a public hearing Monday, 18 members of the aviation community spoke against the proposed rate increase. Several said that raising the rate to 30 cents would cause businesses at Manassas Regional Airport to locate elsewhere.
Wednesday night, the council returned the rate to 1 cent.
The council also decided Wednesday to defer a $737,000 bond payment until fiscal 2007, Weiler said. After the tax rate cuts and the debt deferment, the city was left with a surplus of $140,000. The council decided to put that money toward paying off bond projects, Weiler said, leaving the city with a balanced budget.
“You always have your challenges when you’re dealing with the budget,” Parrish said. “We had such tremendous increases in assessments, and that was foremost in people’s minds. The council spent a lot of time and effort on it, and we were able to reduce the tax rate by 15 cents and also get some additional tax relief for the senior citizens.”
The city’s budget proposal includes an increase in built-in tax relief for the elderly and disabled. In fiscal 2006, disabled residents or people over age 65 who have a net worth of less than $240,000 — not including the value of their home and one acre of property — will be eligible for exemption from real estate taxes if they have an annual income of less than $40,000. Households with an annual income of less than $46,000 will be eligible for a 50 percent exemption, and homes with an income of less than $52,000 per year will be allowed a 25 percent exemption.
The City Council is scheduled to take its first vote on the budget proposal Monday. If it passes, the budget would be up for final approval during a meeting April 27.