It looks like taxes in Prince William will go up. Here’s some of what residents will get for the money.

WOODBRIDGE — Under Prince William County’s proposed 2020 budget, the tax rate remains flat, and schools will get more cash.

The county will, as it does each year, automatically give 57.23 percent of its entire budget to the school division, no questions asked. With it will go an additional $28.4 million, a five percent increase over last year.

County Executive Christopher Martino, who prepared his budget for the Board of Supervisors, recommended leaving in place for the next five years an annual $1 million matching grant to the School Board which funds classroom-size reduction. Prince William County notoriously has the most crowded classrooms in the Washington Area, according to the Washington Area Boards of Education.

That five-year matching grant was set to expire in 2020.

The county will also roll out the $10.5 million second phase of a plan to retain more police and firefighters, paying them higher salaries in hopes they won’t seek work elsewhere. Board Chairman, At-large Corey Stewart called the plan the most important facet of the budget, calling it the “800-pound gorilla in the room.”

“We can’t keep losing firefighters… police officers to some extent, too… but firefighters who are going to Fairfax County and making $10,000 more a year,” added Stewart.

Also under this budget, work to expand the adult detention center will continue. There are also funds for a new juvenile detention center to replace the existing facility, a new animal shelter, two new fire stations, and $655,000 to renovate judges chambers at the courthouse.

Martino also highlighted the need to help small businesses following the closure of the Flory Small Business Center in December. Martino has not announced plans for $238,000 allocated for small businesses assistance but said the Department of Economic Development will hire two new people — a communications person and a business development manager to work with entrepreneurs in the county.

Stewart suggested Martino offer jobs to the former employees of the Flory Center, who for more than 20 years worked with small business owners six days a week. “We don’t want to lose the institutional knowledge of small business in our community,” he said.

“We’re trying to get the best people. We’ll see if we can do that,” replied Martino.

The county also wants to assist the party-planning business, with newly allocated funding to work with wedding and corporate event planners to convince them to hold their chin-digs in Prince William County.

Stewart questioned the county’s role in that effort. Coles District Marty Nohe supported it.

“You can sit in Woodbridge and search ‘great places to hold my [wedding] reception, and they’re most likely going to be placed in Clifton, and Fredericksburg who are paying to appear in those search results,” said Nohe.

Gainesville District Supervisor Peter Candland urged Martino not to fill the two new positions until after a new permanent economic development director to replace the now-retired Jeff Kaczmarek is hired.

For transportation, now popularly dubbed “mobility” by county bureaucrats, has seen its budget balloon to $400 million in the past 18 months thanks, in part, to funds given to the county by the operators of the Interstate 66 E-ZPass Express Lanes, and from the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority.

Major projects the county transportation department are overseeing include the construction of a new diverging diamond interchange at Prince William Parkway (Route 234 Bypass) and Balls Ford Road, widening Route 1 in Woodbridge, and working to build a Route 28 bypass just outside Manassas.

“Ten years ago, the transportation program was budget at $100 million,” said Martino.

Each year, the Board of Supervisors sets the Real Estate tax rate to fund the government. Under Martino’s proposed budget, the $1.125 tax rate remains flat, but increased property assessments mean the average tax bill will raise $137.

“I’m glad Prince William County is looking at flat tax rates across the board and doing some good things,” said Nohe, who seeks to replace Stewart as Chairman At-large.

Some of that tax increase, argued Stewart and Candland, could be offset by levying a higher tax rate for data centers, a business sector the county has been working to lure in an effort to remain competitive with its neighbor Loudoun.

Last year, a failed plan by Stewart aimed at hiking the computer and peripheral tax rate would have had a significant impact on data centers.

The plan was to increase the tax from $1.25 per $100 to $3.70 per $100. “I’m not going to do that this year… this is my last budget,” said Stewart, who announced he won’t seek another term after 15 years as Chairman At-large.

He did, however, order Martino to begin talks with executives in the data center industry about raising the data center tax rate incrementally over the next five years.

Brentsville District Supervisor Jeanine Lawson argued as she did last year, to keep tax rates low for data centers. Prince William County taxes Real Estate at a higher rate than Loudoun, so it “ends up being a wash,” she said.

Multiple data centers have been built in western Prince William County, and two more may be erected in her district, she added.

“Clearly they have the ability to pay more, and they should pay more,” said Candland. “Frankly, I’m surprised we’re not even blinking about increasing the average tax bill by $137, but increasing taxes on the biggest companies in the world, well, that’s a bridge too far.”

County officials will begin a series of public workshops on the 2020 budget starting at 9 a.m. Saturday, February 23 at the Development Services Building at the county government center in Woodbridge.

The Board of Supervisors is expected to approve a final version of the budget in April. The budget takes effect on July 1.