Manassas to stick with its nonprofit funding method

The Manassas City Council largely stuck by its funding system for the arts and other nonprofit groups Monday night, instead of switching to a competing method used in Prince William County that has been criticized.

Manassas Mayor Harry “Hal” Parrish II (R), Council member Mark D. Wolfe (R) and others had advocated for a nonprofit funding system that would have appointed a citizen panel to make a recommendation on which nonprofit groups to fund and for how much.

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It is essentially the system that’s in place in Prince William but has come under fire, especially from members of Prince William County Symphony, whose leaders have said that too many dollars have gone toward the Manassas Ballet. The ballet is headed by Wolfe; his wife, Amy, is the group’s artistic director.

In the end, however, council members voted unanimously to keep its funding system, in which a subcommittee of council members is appointed to make a recommendation to the full City Council. That committee will now have two council members, rather than three.

Wolfe abstained from the vote, citing his role in the ballet. Parrish, as mayor, votes only in case of a tie. Council member J. Steven Randolph (I) was absent.

“This is taxpayers’ money that is given freely to nonprofit groups,” said Council member Marc T. Aveni (R). “Council should be responsible for those dollars.”

Manassas Ballet has received about 25 percent of the county’s $1.6 million allocation for all nonprofit groups since fiscal 2005. County Board Chairman Corey A. Stewart (R-At Large) has said that he worries about the number of city nonprofits receiving county dollars.

The amount allocated to nonprofit organizations from the city is relatively small, down to $110,000 in fiscal 2012 from $145,300 in the last fiscal year, and Wolfe and others have said it would be better for City Council members to spend their time on schools and other larger segments of the budget.