Budget & Finance
City of Manassas City Council
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FY2027 General Fund · City Council Adopted (May 11, 2026)
$185,365,000
One year of City of Manassas General Fund spending, as adopted by City Council. Up +$26,991,000 (+17.0%, our calc) from FY2026's $158,374,000. Includes the $67,342,000 operating transfer to Manassas City Public Schools.
Sources: p.13, p.70. All funds, including schools: $597,849,692 (p.7), up $109,551,837 from $488,297,855 (+22.4%, our calc; p.13).
City Council
$545,940
$545,940 for City Council itself, up 15.3% (our calc) from $473,380: 0.3% of the General Fund (our calc). It covers council costs ($318,940), memberships ($127,000) and outside audits ($100,000).
Source: FY27 Adopted Budget p.191 (also p.70), City Council $545,940; FY26 $473,380.
City Manager
$1.5M
7 positions
$1,515,240 for the City Manager's office, up 7.4% from $1,410,770 (our calc), 0.8% of the General Fund (our calc), with 7 positions.
Source: FY27 Adopted Budget p.70, City Manager $1,515,240 (department p.196); 7 positions p.94.
Data Centers
$3.60 → $4.50
The tax rate on data center computer equipment rises from $3.60 to $4.50 per $100. Industrial assessments are up 76.8%, tied to data center construction, and the Electric Fund grows $34.9M to $87,685,000 to buy more power from Dominion for data centers. The book prints no dollar figure for data center tax revenue.
Public Education
$67.3M
36.3%
Public Safety & Judicial
$37.0M
20.0%
Capital & Other
$25.5M
13.8%
General Government
$16.4M
8.9%
Public Works
$13.1M
7.1%
Comm. Enhancement & Development
$11.2M
6.0%
Health & Welfare
$9.5M
5.1%
Debt Service
$5.2M
2.8%
Source: FY27 Adopted Budget p.69, General Fund by Function. % of General Fund is our calc (the book's pie on p.69 rounds them to 36, 20, 14, 9, 7, 6, 5 and 3 percent). The p.69 and p.70 tables are footed "All Funds Total," but they are General Fund totals.
By Manassas City Department
All 17 General Fund departments and lines. Amounts are full department totals. Some feed more than one function, and the General Government, Community Development and Health & Welfare totals can't be rebuilt exactly from departments: the book doesn't show its split.
- Schools Transfer (Operating) (p. 280)$67,342,00036.3%
- Non-Departmental (excl. school operating transfer) (p. 280)$38,659,00020.9%
- Police (p. 230)$27,638,74014.9%
- Shared Services (Prince William County cost-sharing) (p. 276)$15,017,0008.1%
- Public Works (p. 248)$11,282,3806.1%
- Community Development (p. 260)$8,114,2304.4%
- Finance (p. 216)$3,349,8301.8%
- Human Resources (p. 226)$2,989,1201.6%
- Commissioner of the Revenue (p. 212)$2,163,8701.2%
- Engineering (p. 244)$1,833,7601.0%
- City Manager (p. 196)$1,515,2400.8%
- Economic Development (p. 272)$1,410,7000.8%
- Treasurer (p. 208)$1,359,8700.7%
- City Attorney (p. 200)$1,053,8100.6%
- Voter Registration & Elections (p. 204)$709,6700.4%
- City Council (p. 191)$545,9400.3%
- City Clerk (p. 192)$379,8400.2%
Source: FY27 Adopted Budget p.70, General Fund departments; Non-Departmental detail p.280; Shared Services p.276. Page = start of department section, table of contents. % is our calc. Fire and Rescue ($21,010,000, p.290) and Social Services ($10,940,000, p.282) are separate funds, not in this list.
Question 1
Where does the money come from?
- Real estate property taxes$90,200,00048.7%
- Other local taxes$29,595,00016.0%
- Other property taxes (personal property, M&T…)$24,375,00013.1%
- Use of fund balance$17,000,0009.2%
- State$13,884,0007.5%
- All other (7 smaller lines)$10,311,0005.6%
Source: General Fund by Source, p.62. "All other" is our sum of payments in lieu of taxes, other local revenue, fines, charges, interest, permits and federal money. Each penny of the real estate rate brings in about $850,000 (p.8).
Question 2
Where does it go?
- Operating transfer to the schools$67,342,00036.3%
- 15 city departments (incl. Shared Services)$79,364,00042.8%
- Other Non-Departmental (capital reserve, transfers, debt…)$38,659,00020.9%
From the department table, p.70; the middle bar is our calc ($185,365,000 − $67,342,000 − $38,659,000). Non-Departmental detail is on p.280, including a one-time $12,000,000 capital reserve for City Hall and a downtown parking garage.
Question 3
What's changing year over year?
+$26,991,000
+17.0% General Fund (our calc), mostly Non-Departmental +$20,004,000 (p.70, p.280). Real estate rate cut 2 cents to $1.050 per $100 ($1.240 with the fire & rescue levy); the $25 vehicle decal fee is repealed (p.22). Average bill for an existing home: +$289 (5.03%) (p.8).
How the budget gets made
STEP 1
Proposed
City Manager presents the proposed budget and CIP (Feb 23, 2026)
STEP 2
Public hearing
Public hearing on the budget (Apr 27, 2026)
STEP 3
Council Adopted
City Council adopts the budget and CIP (May 11, 2026)
The budget system opened to departments on Sep 29, 2025. The School Board adopted the MCPS budget on Mar 24 and met with Council on Mar 25, 2026; the tax rate and fee ordinances had their second reading on Jun 8, 2026 (calendar, p.29). The transmittal letter (p.5) mentions a "March 16th Town Hall"; we use the calendar's date.
Search the budget papers
Search the budget records
Looks inside the budget documents listed below, including the big books we link to rather than host, not just filenames. Proposed ≠ adopted stays labeled on each hit.
Source files (8)
- FY2027 Adopted Budget in BriefCity Adopted0.2 MB · manassasva.govOne-page summary of the adopted budget, tax rates and the average tax bill.
- FY2027 Adopted Budget (complete book, 430 pp)City Adopted74.4 MB · official link · manassasva.govThe full book: General Fund tables (pp.62–70), rate schedule (p.22), every department. Too big to host (74 MB).
- Resolution R-2026-971: FY2027 budget adoption (signed)City Adopted12.3 MB · official link · manassasva.govThe signed resolution adopting the budget.
- Ordinance O-2026-966: 2027 real estate tax rates (signed)Ordinance0.5 MB · manassasva.govReal estate, fire & rescue levy and service district rates.
- Ordinance O-2026-967: personal property tax rates (signed)Ordinance0.4 MB · manassasva.govIncludes the data center computer equipment rate ($4.50).
- Ordinance O-2026-974: repeal of the $25 vehicle decal fee (signed)Ordinance0.4 MB · manassasva.govEnds the vehicle license (decal) fee.
- FY2027–2031 Adopted Capital Improvement ProgramCity Adopted92.6 MB · official link · manassasva.govFive-year building and infrastructure plan. Too big to host (93 MB).
- FY2026 Adopted Budget (for comparison)City Adopted (FY26)24.7 MB · official link · manassasva.govLast year's book. Linked only; not included in search.
Small files are hosted here; the big books link to the City's own copies on manassasva.gov.
Caveats & notes
- •The book prints no dollar figure for data center tax revenue, only the rate and assessment growth.
- •Department pages show spending by category (salaries, benefits…), not line items.
- •Three function totals (General Government, Community Development, Health & Welfare) can't be rebuilt exactly from department totals; the book doesn't show its split.
- •Fire and Rescue and Social Services are separate funds, so they aren't in the General Fund department list.