BOYS LACROSSE ROUNDUP: Battlefield, Brentsville, Hylton looking strong. SPORTS, Pages 12-14
April 21, 2022 | Vol. 21, No. 16 | www.princewilliamtimes.com | $1.00 Covering Prince William County and surrounding communities, including Gainesville, Haymarket, Dumfries, Occoquan, Quantico and the cities of Manassas and Manassas Park.
Community energy plan tops to-do list for new sustainability chief
Commercial buildings, transportation are key to cutting county’s emissions, she says By Cher Muzyk
Times Staff Writer
Giulia Manno, Prince William county’s first environmental and energy sustainability officer, has been on the job for less than a month but is already working on the county’s “Community Energy Master Plan”
-- a roadmap to achieving the county’s sustainability goals. In November 2020, the Prince William Board of County Supervisors passed a resolution laying out the county’s goals for addressing climate change, which include reducing greenhouse gas emissions
By Kipp Hanley
Contributing Writer
14-year-old injured in shooting near carnival By Jill Palermo
Prince William County police are still searching for a suspect in a shooting outside a fundraising carnival near Gar-Field High School over the weekend that left a 14-yearold Woodbridge girl injured. The victim has not been identified because of her age but is expected to recover from her injuries, according to police.
Giulia Manno
Plan includes first-ever meals tax, higher tax bills
PHOTO BY JOHN CALHOUN
Times Staff Writer
See CHIEF, page 4
County board sticks with proposed budget
The Woodbridge Kiwanis Club’s annual spring break carnival – the first since 2019 due to the pandemic – was interrupted by a shooting Friday, April 15, that injured a 14-yearold Woodbridge girl.
Police still trying to identify a suspect
and ensuring the county government’s operations achieve 100% renewable energy by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2050. Manno said the goals are “aggressive but not uncommon.”
The shooting took place amid an argument between two groups and happened at about 9:20 p.m. on Friday, April 15, just outside Gar-Field High School’s driver’s ed parking lot, where the Woodbridge Kiwanis Club was holding its annual spring break carnival – its first since 2019 due to the pandemic. The teen victim was flown to an area hospital where her injuries were determined to be non-life-threatening, according to 1st Sgt. Jonathan Perok, a Prince William County Police Department spokesman.
See SHOOTING, page 8
American Idol’s Mike Parker visits schools in hometown Warrenton, page 9
Prince William County supervisors appear ready to give their final approval on April 26 to a $1.48 billion county budget that reduces the real estate tax rate by about 8 cents while adding a first-ever 4% meals tax. During an April 19 “markup session” on the proposed budget for fiscal year 2023, which begins July 1, the county board voted 5-3 in a straw poll to make no changes to acting County Executive Elijah Johnson’s revised budget, which he first presented to the board April 12. The budget is based on a proposed real estate tax rate of $1.03 per $100 of assessed value. Due
to a 12% rise in property values, however, homeowners will still see an average annual tax bill increase of about $172. That’s based on an average annual real estate tax bill of $4,389. The current real estate tax rate is $1.115 per $100 in assessed value.
Proposed cuts rejected
All three of the board’s Republican supervisors – Peter Candland (Gainesville), Jeanine Lawson (Brentsville) and Yesli Vega (Coles) – voted against the proposed budget and offered areas to cut. Early in the meeting, Vega made a pitch to cut the real estate tax rate to 96 cents, stating the county would still spend about $45 million more in fiscal year 2023 than in the current year under the lower rate. See BUDGET, page 2
Supervisors reject public defenders’ pleas for more funding, page 3 Help needed: Annual MS Walk is Saturday, April 23 in Manassas. Page 11
88 DULLES, VA
It’s all about people . . . and always will be. www.vnb.com