Sticker shock continues: Manassas to dip into rainy day funds to pay for office building renovation

Manassas government employees and the residents who visit to interact with them will get a newly remodeled city hall despite skyrocketing costs and the city’s need to dip into rainy-day funds to pay for the construction.

On Monday, October 10, 2022, the City Council voted 4-2, with Democrats in favor, to move ahead with a $12.2 million project to gut and overhaul the city’s municipal office building at 9027 Center Street, installing new systems from top to bottom — electrical wiring, HVAC, elevators, and new windows, to name a few.

The project will cost 40% more than the $8.5 million budgeted for the project last year. Rising construction and labor costs drove up the price.

The city will dip into its reserve funds to pay for the cost increase. Councilwoman Theresa Coates Ellis spoke to Potomac Local News about the City Council’s vote to spend the additional cash on the city hall renovation.

“It’s the wrong time to do this project,” said Coates Ellis. “When you come in five million over budget, it’s not the right time.”

Coates Ellis said she proposed a compromise during Monday’s meeting to give the city what it wanted and save the taxpayer money. She suggested renovating the building’s first floor to make it more user-friendly for poeple walking in to pay bills and attend government meetings. Meanwhile, she proposed delaying renovations on the additional three upper floors until costs come down.

However, Democrats who control the council voted to move ahead with the project on the advice of city public works director Scott Horan, who said prices are unlikely to come down anytime soon.

Compounding the problem: The city waited until all its employees were moved out of the building and into temporary office space in January 2022 to put the project out to bid. It wasn’t until September that the City Council learned the project would be $5 million over budget.

“If you come in over budget by that much, you really need to take a look at your projects,” added Coates Ellis.

The City Hall renovation will take about 13 months to complete and is behind schedule. Initially, the work was to be completed by Spring 2023.

The City Hall building opened in 1987 when the Manassas City Government had 227 employees and a population of about 20,000. Today, the city employs more than 500 people at various locations and has more than doubled in population.

The City Hall renovation is one of the multiple capital projects the city plans to spend tens of millions of taxpayers’ funds to “invest” into the city. In late summer, the city began work on a more costly than expected $6.2 million renovation on the city museum, while $11 million in work to install new traffic roundabouts on Grant Avenue and to remove two lanes from the street as part of a “road diet” are now underway.

The cost overruns on the capital projects are the latest in a string of sticker shock for city residents. This summer, many opened their property tax bills to find their used automobiles shot up in value by more than 20%.

Surrounding jurisdictions like Prince William County anticipated the higher values due to a lack of new cars being sold. They gave residents a break, charging 80% of a car’s total market value, while Manassas slapped residents with a bill for 100% of the value.

Public outcry and a push by Coates Ellis and Lynn Forkell Green, the two Republicans on the City Council, for the governing body to revisit the issue. The City Council decided to give residents a 15% break on their car tax, mailed new, recalculated bills to residents, and gave them until Monday, October 26, to pay.

However, the new bills instructed residents to pay the bills at the empty city hall. Coates Ellis said city government employees working at the elections office next to City Hall are telling frustrated residents to get back in their cars and drive to the city’s bill payment center, a former DMV office by the city’s airport, to pay their tabs.