1. "Our local government (City of Manassas) raised your real estate tax bill each year of the pandemic.
2. Received record-breaking federal revenue during the pandemic
3. Still has tens of millions of dollars in surplus fed money on the books
4. Our local government is laughably exploring token attempts at improving affordable housing offerings in the city- while making it less affordable to live here through tax policy.

When politicians just want to talk to you about the tax RATE- but purposely leave out information about your actual assessments and tax BILL - they are purposefully trying to confuse you. Your real estate tax RATE is mainly irrelevant outside your assessment and ultimate tax bill. While the tax RATE went down, your ASSESSMENTS skyrocketed, and your tax BILL went up the same as usual, even during the pandemic. Manassas City Council had the opportunity, especially during the pandemic, to at least adopt a budget and rate that kept taxes flat for a year or two. That opportunity was not taken.
The blow was not softened. Several Northern Virginia counties and cities offered a tax break to their citizens." - Ian Lovejoy, former Manassas City Council member and candidate for Virginia State Senate.

Manassas City citizens deserve better. We ask that the Manassas City Council revisit the personal property tax rates (car tax) for 2021, 2022, and 2023, given the surplus of monies available. - Kim Howard