Manassas has fiscal priorities in wrong place

Perspective
Published: December 26, 2008

The Manassas City Council has budgeted $325,000 to give Battle Street a new look.

But coming around the same time that the city is announcing layoffs and major government restructuring, the decision to go ahead with the Battle Street improvements seems a bad one.

The plan for Battle Street is to widen the sidewalks to 13 feet, make the street one-way and add trees.

City officials argue that these improvements will actually aid with economic development and so will ultimately be a boon to the city’s revenue.

Perhaps that is so, but now is just not the time to do it.

On Dec. 12, City Manager Lawrence D. Hughes announced that the city would be eliminating 20 full-time jobs and reducing the number of departments from 12 to seven. That is a pretty major change, and we thought it showed creativity and foresight.

The move was anticipated to save the city $900,000 in this fiscal year and $1.6 million in the next fiscal year.

But here is $325,000 that might be spent on a non-essential project. Granted, the money is coming from the city’s gas tax and couldn’t necessarily save lost jobs, but still, that is money that could be better spent elsewhere.

And the $325,000 is just for phase one.

The total cost of the project is $670,000 and Liz Via, the director of the Manassas’ Community Development Department, is trying to convince the city council to do the project all at once.

Given the fact that Manassas is tightening its belt, we feel it would be wrong for the city to needlessly spend money on this project.

We are for improving Battle Street. But the timing of this project is wrong. We hope the council reconsiders.

— News & Messenger (Prince William County)