Owed $1.4M in back taxes, Manassas changes its late-payment penalty

Some businesses make it a point to pay their local taxes, while some others don’t. And it’s those businesses who don’t that have city leaders up in arms.

The Manassas City Council on Monday voted 4-1 to change the way penalties are assessed on those who pay their property taxes late. The city has been charging 10% of the total amount owed if the tax is paid one day late.

City Treasurer Patricia Richie Folks suggested changing the policy to charge a 2% penalty if taxes are paid within 10 days of the tax deadline. If not, the penalty would increase to 10%. The policy is similar to other Northern Virginia jurisdictions like Arlington.

Councilman Mark Wolfe voted against the ordinance change, saying it “would bring unintended consequences” and “cause headaches at the [city] treasures’ office.” Last year, Potomac Local News reported Wolfe made an arrangement to pay the nearly $25,000 in back taxes he owed the city. That was on top of the nearly $235,000 in federal taxes he owed, according to court documents.

The move comes as the city is owed $1.4 million in back property taxes, between 1999 and 2020, according to city spokeswoman Patty Prince.

And city leaders are frustrated with Richie-Folks over what they said is a lack of detail over who owes what. The council has tried to pressure the duly-elected city treasurer for a full breakdown of businesses that are in arrears but has only been notified of the name of the business and the amount owed. The report does not say for how many months or years the tax is late.

Potomac Local News asked the city for the names of the five businesses that had the largest amount of back taxes owed to the city, however, they couldn’t provide such a report. “Because the business taxes are included with all tangible personal property taxes, there is no way to extrapolate the data into one document that would be able to be provided to you at this time,” said Prince.

When it comes to getting their money, the city makes two collection attempts. If it’s unsuccessful, those accounts are then sent to a private collection agency. For personal property items like boats and trailers, the city sends the accounts to the collector after 30 days. For Real Estate taxes, a property owner must be delinquent for six months before it’s handed over to collectors.

During a February meeting of the City Council’s Finance Committee, Richie-Folks assured council members she was working to collect.

“We are doing everything we can,” said Richie-Folks. “…my concern is my city. We are a business-friendly city.”

Many of the businesses that owe back taxes include restaurants. She didn’t call them out by name, but she did say several have set up installment agreements to pay their back taxes but didn’t make good on the promise. The boasts its small and independent restaurant scene.

Mayor Hal Parrish II pushed for more transparency from the treasurer. “I’m getting a little frustrated…I assume you get a monthly report I assume at every restaurant. I assume that each restaurant is paying meals tax in a timely fashion, that matches up. I’m not getting those reports. I do not even know where those reports go here in the city,” said Parrish.

Councilman Ian Lovejoy asked Richie Folks to provide a full report to the committee showing not only who owes the city but for how long they’ve been in arrears. Richie-Folks promised to provide the report in March.

Reporters Jessica Washington and Olivia Aveni-Briscoe contributed to this story.