Well, we have completed the “Mark Up” part of the budget. Mark up is pretty much the end of the road although the budget may be modified if citizens show up and demand changes at the public hearings. At this point, the tax rate looks like it’ll be around 85 cents which is about 4 cents higher than this year. Anything under 86 cents represents a tax cut to your average homeowner. It isn’t a ton of cash but it’s something. This marked up budget (I don’t guess it’s an official proposed budget yet) is pretty strong on public safety with 3 police, Manassas ICE training and a new ambulance included in the budget. It also minimizes the amount of fund balance (rainy day fund) spending that is included. I didn’t get another zoning inspector but I wasn’t willing to push that too hard and have a larger impact on the rainy day fund or raise taxes more.
For the museum fans out there, 2 of the 3 museum positions slated to be eliminated were preserved. This is due, in part, to the Museum Associates going out and raising funds to help offset the salaries. This is good but the Museum does have a tough road ahead. If you support the Museum, go over there and volunteer or participate in their events.
Overall, I’m pretty comfortable with this budget. The increase was a bit more than I wanted but if you want to hire more police officers and pay for ICE training you have to pay for it somehow. Cutting a bunch of positions just isn’t a good option as the City doesn’t have a very deep bench. If we cut a position, something isn’t going to happen. I’d also like to thank the Mayor, staff and other council members who have been through this before. The staff was very helpful, even when I asked dumb questions and the more experienced council members also helped make this easier.
Overall, I’d guess that I spent about 40 odd hours on the budget in the last 3 weeks. Budget time is a crusher and not to be taken lightly. If you’re thinking about running for office, don’t forget to cancel whatever you thought you were doing in March.