M. Park approves $81M budget

By Kipp Hanley

Published: May 21, 2008

The Manassas Park City Council approved its fiscal 2009 budget Tuesday night.

Vice Mayor Bryan Polk, Cynde Gardner, Bill Treuting and Keith Miller voted for the $81 million budget. Polk said Mayor Frank Jones was out of town on business and council member Frank Kassinger was at home sick.

Council member Michael Bunner was out of town on business as well, but said he supported the budget when reached Wednesday via cell phone.

The general fund budget, 57 percent of which goes to Manassas Park Schools through a revenue sharing agreement, actually went down from $39.8 million to $38.9 million. This drop in budget has to do with an 8.77 percent decrease in real estate assessments.

To help compensate for the drop in assessments, the council approved a 10-cent tax rate increase from $1.14 to $1.24 last month, which is projected to result in a $200-plus savings to the average tax bill.

Under the approved budget, the schools may have to slash up to 41 full-time positions because of decreased enrollment and fewer dollars coming from state support for education.

Considering the housing slump, Treuting said the budget was a fair one, and one that took into consideration input from citizens and staff alike.

"I think the budget that was put together still allows the city to continue to move forward, to make sure we have the type of public safety and public services and education that we need for the citizens," Treuting said.

Other budget highlights include the freezing of a business auditor position and planning position in the city's Planning Department, the reduction of travel across departments and a proposed 2.5 percent raise to all city employees.

In addition to the raise, all public safety employees would receive an extra 0.5 percent raise.

Staff writer Kipp Hanley can be reached at 703-369-5738.

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