Library board: No additional tax ask needed

As negotiations continue over a possible move of the library to the Rush River Commons development, the Rappahannock County Public Library Board of Trustees says it has a plan to cover a future lease and rising operating costs without asking taxpayers for more money.

Board president Victoria Fortuna said in an interview Monday that any future lease or added operating costs would come from interest on funds the library already holds and from private donations. She said that the board has run the numbers on what that would look like in the long term with the help of Bonnie Jewell, who sits on the board, and also is assistant county administrator.

“The interest on the monies that we have in hand would cover us for quite a long time … we could pay the rent at a reasonable rate, plus a reasonable increase every year for insurance, indefinitely,” Fortuna said. “That’s what [Jewell] figured out, so we felt comfortable agreeing to that in principle.”

The board began looking at alternatives to expanding its current Library Road building after a feasibility study last year found that raising the roughly $6 million needed for an on-site addition would be nearly impossible.

The potential move into Rush River Commons in the Town of Washington has drawn public criticism in the form of social media comments, emails to board members and comments at public meetings, with some residents saying they don’t want to see taxpayer money go toward a new library building or its upkeep.

“The library, I think, is underused,” Deak Deakins, Stonewall-Hawthorne resident, said at the June Board of Supervisors’ meeting. “They have a rent-free situation right now … the idea of going from a free situation, paid for and clear, to something we have to pay for … I’m very much opposed to it. I think the library is perfect in this form.”

Fortuna said any lease payments would likely be covered using interest and dividends earned on funds the library already holds, along with possible support from two anonymous donors who have pledged $1.5 million toward the original renovation project. She said the board is looking for a long-term lease, around 70 years.

“It’s all to be worked out, but we’re trying to find a way where we minimize any additional ask [for money] from the county … There might be additional ask from the county in the future with a bigger space, that’s the reality of it.” She added that additional costs are inevitable in the future, whether or not the library remains in its current location and renovates or moves to Rush River Commons.

The current library building and land are jointly owned by the library board and the county. No decisions have been made about its future if the board relocates, but Fortuna said income from the building’s sale or rental could supplement costs at the new space.

Fortuna said the board’s negotiating committee plans to keep meeting with Rush River representatives in the coming weeks as both sides work toward a potential lease agreement. If the Rush River plan falls through, Fortuna said the board would consider minor renovations at the current site, but “wouldn’t want to spend down” its endowment to pay for them.

If the move goes forward, the earliest a new library could open is late 2028, she said.