SOFTBALL THRILLER: Battlefield slips past Osbourn Park 3-2 in battle of contenders. PAGES, 11, 12
April 25, 2024 | Vol. 23, No. 17 | www.princewilliamtimes.com | $2.00 Covering Prince William County and surrounding communities, including Gainesville, Haymarket, Dumfries, Occoquan, Quantico and the cities of Manassas and Manassas Park.
Supervisors approve $4.5 billion budget for 2025 Prince William County’s 2025 budget highlights Real estate tax rate: 92 cents per $100 in assessed value • Down from 96 cents Average residential tax bill: $4,880 • Up $26 Personal property (vehicle) tax rate: $3.70 • Unchanged Business/computer peripheral (data center) tax rate: $3.70 per $100 in assessed value • Up from $2.15 TIMES STAFF PHOTO/JILL PALERMO
County Board Chair Deshundra Jefferson discusses the data center tax rate at a recent supervisors’ meeting.
By Jill Palermo Managing Editor
Passing a budget is much easier when there’s more money to spend. That was the position in which the Prince William Board of County Supervisors found themselves Tuesday when they made quick work of passing a $4.5 billion spending plan for the coming year that was infused with an extra $55.4 million due to a 70% increase in a tax rate mostly paid by data centers. The supervisors on Tuesday, April 23 adopted a spending plan based on a lower tax rate for property owners and a higher rate on the tax data centers and other businesses pay on their computers and computer servers. The county’s more than 40 data centers pay the bulk of the revenue raised by the tax. The decision means that homeowners’ tax bills will remain nearly flat next year. The annual tax bill on a home valued at the county’s average — about $500,000 — will rise just $26 in the coming fiscal year, which begins July 1. See BUDGET, page 6
Road construction ahead
Preparations underway for $70M intersection at Minnieville, Prince William Parkway By Jill Palermo Managing Editor
The felled trees along Minnieville Road are the first sign that work is proceeding on the “Quartz District” — a mix of up to 1,000 new townhomes and condominiums, as well as a new county park and a shopping center anchored by a Whole Foods grocery store. But the first step will be major upgrades to the intersection at Minnieville Road and Prince William Parkway — one of the busiest in the county. By this time next year, work is expected to be underway on a twoyear, $70 million project to construct a two-level interchange that will tunnel traffic on Prince William Parkway underneath Minnieville Road.
The two-level intersection is needed to alleviate current congestion and to make way for even more traffic that will accompany the new development. At least 50,000 vehicles already travel through the intersection each day, according to Ric Canizales, director of Prince William County’s transportation project. The project is expected to be finished in mid-2027, Canizales said. Supervisor Victor Angry, who represents the Neabsco District where the intersection and the future Quartz District are located, said the new intersection is intended to keep traffic instead of backing up into nearby neighborhoods. Angry said that it’s become a bigger problem in recent years because of navigation apps. See INTERSECTION, page 9
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President Biden makes an Earth Day stop at PW Forest Park, page 2 News
Future Quartz District
MAP BY VINCENT SALES, ©OPENSTREETMAP.ORG
A temporary detour road connecting Elm Farm Road to Prince William Parkway and Minnieville Road will be constructed before work begins on the new intersection early next year.
What’s hot at the PW libraries, page 6
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