Higher pay for elected Manassas leaders, tax bills on tonight’s agenda 

The Manassas Mayor and City Council, and Mayor tonight are set to vote themselves a pay raise.

If approved, the elected leaders will see a $2,300 hike in their annual pay, putting the mayor’s salary at $20,000 and council members’ pay at $18,000, the state-allowed maximum.

The role of the Mayor is largely ceremonial, with her primary duties being to manage council meetings and break tie votes. Both the Mayor and Council members are elected to serve part-time.

According to city documents, the city’s charter states that the Council may establish the annual salary of the Mayor and members of the Council and does not provide any limitation on the amount.

State law requires the salaries to be established by ordinance. Any salary increase can only become effective on July 1 after the next regularly scheduled general election of council members on November 8, 2022, when three seats on the City Council are up for grabs.

Seats held by Ralph Smith, and Theresa Ellis will be on the November ballot. So will the seat held by Lynn Forkell Greene, who was elected to complete a term vacated when Michelle Davis Younger when Davis Younger was elected mayor and took the seat in January 2021

State law also establishes a maximum salary based on the locality’s population. For cities with a population between 35,000 and 74,999, such as Manassas, the maximums are $20,000 for the Mayor and $18,000 for members of the City Council.

On Monday, April 25, the City Council approved a new pay scale classification system that will hike the pay for city government workers in various departments.

For example, the midpoint pay range for a fire marshal increases to $106,216, up from $97,468, while an employee in the human resources office will have a salary midpoint increased to $82,222, up from $75,463.

You can see a complete list of increases, job titles, and comparisons here. The city’s proposed the Fiscal Year of 2023, to be approved by the City Council and funding from its current 2022 budget, will fund the increases.

The City Council is also expected to approve the 2023 budget at its 5 p.m meeting today, Monday, May 9, 2022. You may view the meeting online, or Manassas City residents may watch on Comcast Channel 23, Verizon Channel 38.

Taxpayers are expected to see higher property tax bills (about five percent higher) in the coming year to fund the new pay classification and other spending priorities identified by the City Council. The average homeowner’s Real Estate tax bill will be $6,610, up $312 from 2022.