Budget meeting tonight. It’s going to be a long one – at least 4 hours. Mainly Public Safety but Airport budget as well. We’ll select a tax rate to advertise at the end of the evening. The rate that we advertise does not necessarily have to be the rate we end up with but it is the highest the Council can set the rate. Look for it to be right close to the rate in the 5-year forcast.
UPDATE: No showstoppers coming out of the meeting last night. The Fire and Rescue system is looking for about $300k for SCBA. That was unanticipated but it’s not a crisis as we have some money in that fund. Only other item was that the Rescue Squad might come up short on their operating budget this year. Doesn’t look to be much but the possibility does exist.
March 23, 2011 at 8:00 pm
Speaking of the budget, I hope the council isn’t seriously considering giving the Manassas ballet 25 grand. While I consider what they do great work it isn’t the city’s place to be handing a business our tax money. [Edited]
March 24, 2011 at 7:57 am
Maybe someone can verify, but does a current Council member own Manassas Ballet? It does appear if that is the case, there seems to be a huge case of a conflict of interest on the part of the Council to even consider providing funds to a company connected to a current member.
March 24, 2011 at 8:05 am
I would only gently remind everyone of the blog rules.
March 24, 2011 at 8:57 am
Andy,
Exactly what rules did my post break? What is wrong about asking about a possible conflict of interest? Do you not believe the Citizens and taxpayers of the City should be made aware of any possible conflicts of interests? I know you’ve made it a point over the life time of your blog to question and ask why there does not seem to be more interest by the Citizens in City Council meetings, etc. Yet, when some want to know how, where, and why our money is being spent, we receive your response.
March 24, 2011 at 9:04 am
A gentle reminder. That’s all. Don’t get carried away….
March 24, 2011 at 9:06 am
Andy,
OK, thanks.
March 24, 2011 at 1:23 pm
Thanks for the comments above and Maureen thank you for the kind words about MBT. Now I just need to get y’all out to our Romeo and Juliet production in May. Call me and I’ll provide the tickets!
About MBT. It is a 501c3 non-profit corporation and has been since 1983. No one “owns” it. I serve as the Executive Director. I’m not a dancer or an “arts guys.” It is what I do to stay married. That is at least partly a joke! I am not and never have been paid for holding that position. In fact, I pay for the priviledge. My wife, Amy, is the driving force behind the organization and is the Artistic Director. She receives a salary of $36,000 and no benefits. That is the same compensation she has had since 1999 and is far less than a comparable person makes at similarly sized arts organizations.
City support of MBT far pre-dates my being on Council. I am not a part of the sub-committee that recommends City funding to non-profits nor do I vote on that line item in the budget process.
MBT is made up of two components. One is an Academy that focuses on training aspiring college/professional level dancers. As such the Academy doesn’t really compete with your neighborhood dance studio. Our target market is much more specialized. The Academy is cash positive with the “proceeds” going to support the larger part of MBT. The larger part of MBT is the performing side. That is made up of our public performances which feature our professional dancers and our own professional orchestra. We also do 20 Educational Outreach productions in the Manassas and PWC public schools. These shows help supplement arts education/awarness for 10,000 kids a year. These are provided free to the student and schools.
Our financial info is available on Guidestar. We complete an IRS 990 form each year and have a full audit completed by a CPA. Our info is reviewed by the City, PWCPA, the Virginia Commission for the Arts and the Virginia Department of Consumer Services.
If you want to have a generic debate about government funding of arts, let me know. Some of my thoughts might surprise you.
Hope that helps to answer your questions. If there is anything else, feel free to give me a call. And tell me which show you want your tickets for.
March 24, 2011 at 5:40 pm
I understand the conflict of interest argument. I also understand that some would prefer that we not contribute anything to this particular 501(c)(3) program. And I also appreciate that some would presumably prefer (though the argument is seemingly not made above) that tax dollars should never go to any 501(c)(3). From my personal standpoint, however, I prefer that we continue supporting the ballet. I believe the ballet makes Manassas more attractive, serves as a counterbalance to other negative publicity, adds class, and serves to attract others to move here (it’s definitely something my wife and I looked at years ago). I’m personally not troubled if Mark does not recuse himself from the vote. It’s absolutely no secret that he is involved with the ballet. Every council vote also affects every counsel member one way or another. I really don’t see it differently when members cast votes consistent with their religious preferences nor do I object when they do so.
March 24, 2011 at 8:40 pm
Mark,
Thanks for the explanation. I’m not a big arts fan, and given the boondoggle that we are involved in with the Arts center that is not even located in the City, I simply do not see a benefit to either one, or at least not enough to use tax dollars. I’ve asked a number of times for any proof the arts center is generating money for the City, but have not received any responses.
March 24, 2011 at 8:53 pm
Thank you Mark. It is nice that you came on here and explained the situation instead of letting people wonder.
Is 25,000.00 what the city usually give the Manassas Ballet? I’m just wondering how this compares to previous years
March 24, 2011 at 8:56 pm
Andy I don’t remember writing anything offensive especially to have my post edited. Maybe you could let me know what it was?
March 24, 2011 at 9:03 pm
M:
A fair question. Your statements weren’t necessarily “offensive” but I’m *very* sensitive to references of my fellow Council members and Mayor by name. I admit I might be a little overly sensitive but it’s my brand of crazy…:) This is an open forum for issue-oriented debate and I tend to be kinda sensitive about it. You are, however, free to see whatever things you want about me…:)
A
March 24, 2011 at 9:47 pm
Maureen-For several years MBT has received $20,000 in funding from the City. This years request was for $26,200. The reasoning is two-fold. Like most everyone else, MBT’s expenses go up. For example, a new backdrop to fit the Hylton stage for Nutcracker cost $18, 000. Second, we are trying to grow MBT into an organization with a broader reach. One that people will associate positive thoughts about Manassas and PWC. MBT is the only local arts organization that works to attract and be known to an audience outside our immediate community. That hopefully translates into tourism (visitors/$’s) and positive awareness about Manassas. Frankly, that costs money. MBT tries to raise that money from all possible sources including ticket sales, concessions, individual/corporate/foundation donations and government grants. We don’t discriminate!
COM-Reasonable people can disagree on this. As I’ve said, some of my views on arts funding might surprise you. Still, every piece of research I’ve seen on this indicates that arts funding return multi-fold to the community. Anecdotally the Old Town restaurants tell me that their numbers increase every time the ballet performs. Second, most major and many smaller corporations look for communities with strong cultural/arts communities in making decisions on where to locate or expand. This ties into Richard Florida’s work regarding the “Creative Class” and the location of future high tech jobs. If you don’t believe me on this talk to Mike Vanderpool, Rich Serydarian or Miles Friedman about town on this. Tied to this, the Hylton and the GMU campus will help mark the immediate Manassas area as the center of the Northern Virginia of the next 50 years. Finally, it provides an affordable and accessible venue for arts and other programming easily available to Manassas and PWC residents. This is a growing amount of corporate/civic events hosted at Hylton. Like I said, reasonable people may disagree. I respect that but I firmly believe that 25 years from now the Hylton will be viewed as a “no-brainer” like most of us think of the lake and the airport now.
March 25, 2011 at 4:33 am
Thank you Mark & Andy for answering my questions I appreciate it.
Andy I understand your reasoning but for something like this situation the citizens of Manassas have every right to know who the councilmember is.
Mark has been very forth coming about it and I think everyone that reads your blog appreciates his coming forward to explain what is going on.
When people second guess or are in the dark about something, they always think the worst and Mark has put most of that to rest with his explanation. Again thanks.
March 25, 2011 at 7:52 am
On the 501(c)(3) subject, those who argue for eliminating all contributions to them need to understand that means cutting any City funds to the Fire Company and Rescue Squad.
March 25, 2011 at 4:10 pm
I’d still like to see some actual “hard” numbers to indicate the money we are spending on the arts center is paying off other than in intangible ways. I know there is nothing that can happen at this point until the funding agreement runs out. However, I hope that once this agreement is over, that’s the last we’ll have to spend on it.
The way we are going, there won’t be a City of Manassas in 20 years let alone 50. I hardly think anyone who cares about the arts will want to visit an area that is over run with illegals and gangs.
March 31, 2011 at 9:51 pm
Mark – great explanation; enjoyed reading.
COM – I can agree on the GMU Center issue…although what you proposed for a cost benefit analysis sounds like an excellent research project the LUC might consider. There are MBA Cohorts out at GMU who are always looking for a project, and maybe the LUC might think on seeing if we can get some free labor.
No Manassas in 20 years or 50 years because of illegals and gangs? Really? Hmm, interesting prestigiation of the facts there, COM.
November 29, 2011 at 12:46 pm
I read online during the elections a few years ago that the manassas ballot was receiving 500,000, yes a 1/2 million dollars. I read the words of another council member that this was the money given to the manassas ballot from the county. I thought that was a little extreme. Is this the amount given in past years? I am wondering where the 25,000 topic is coming from since the figure was much higher in previous years.
After reading some of the blogs, I am very concerned that people are having such a difficult time in finding the facts and was even more concerned that blogs were being edited. It only takes good people to do nothing for evil to prevail. With all of the curruption mentioned in the press, I would think that a county that won’t give people access to fincial reports and edit blogs has something to hide.
A note to maureen, I hope you were persistant and I was refreshed to see a taxpayer finally question “the ballot budget”.
Where can I see the county budget reports for the past four years. I would like to investigate this topic more myself. Thanks
November 30, 2011 at 11:37 am
Are you asking about the “ballet” Stephanie?
As for county budget reports, the County’s web site is http://www.pwcgov.org/
This blog discusses issue for the City of Manassas, which is independent of Prince William County even though surrounded by the County.
Andy….You probably ought to somehow enable closing comments after 30 days or something, so 8 month old topics aren’t resurrected.