Citizen satisfaction survey will impact Manassas budget

As the City Council in Manassas plans to release an initial budget for the year, members of the council have looked to the results of a citizen satisfaction survey conducted last year to specify priorities.

The survey, completed in December, was conducted by the City Council.

Thousands of surveys were mailed out to residents, and the Council received over 400 responses.

“[The 400] sounds like a small amount, but it’s pretty significant for a city of our size,” said Council Member Ian Lovejoy.

According to Lovejoy, after collecting the responses, statistical modeling was done to account for age groups and demographics that weren’t fully represented.

Citizens were happy with the core services of government, including roads, the Manassas Police Department, and Manassas Fire & Rescue Department. But many residents wrote about concerns they had with the Parks and Recreation Department, and the schools, Lovejoy said.

“[The survey] did identify some weak spots, where we need to work as a city on – the Parks and Rec infrastructure, and making sure our citizens know what’s going on there. The citizens did express some dissatisfaction with schools, and again, I think we are addressing and will continue addressing [these issues],” said Lovejoy.

Newly elected Council Member Ken Elston also stated that residents have concerns about economic development.

“The survey seems to indicate that citizens of the community – just like we are – are very concerned with economic development,” said Elston.

One major takeaway from the survey that the Council will need to address in their budget draft is that the majority of citizens do not want their taxes raised.

“It presents an interesting challenge for [City] Council,” Lovejoy commented.

For Elston, the fact that citizens overwhelmingly prefer no tax increases, and the differing dynamics of the council, could make it difficult to address all of the changes that citizens called for.

“We are a very split council – I would say that there this fifty-percent of the council who really wants zero growth in tax base, and there’s fifty-percent of the council who really wants to look at priorities and needs, and have a needs-based budget. And we are going to have to balance that,” Elston said.