York starts negotiations over regional library
It's Friday, May 8. With deadline approaching, York makes offer to reduce its share of WRL costs. Next step toward more than 500 new homes in Stonehouse. Tourism up this year, marketing agency says.
York county has proposed a plan to remain within the Williamsburg Regional Library system, if the other partners agree to keep its contribution at “an affordable cost”, the county’s chair says.
“York County has prepared a revised contract amendment and will now initiate discussion with (Williamsburg, James City County) and the Williamsburg Regional Library,” York Chair Douglas R. Holroyd announced in his newsletter to constituents.
York’s arrangement with the regional library expires at the end of June. The arrangement largely benefits residents of the county’s first district in the northern part of the county, which Holroyd represents.
York supervisors have complained about their rising costs to participate in the regional library. The proposed library budget would raise York’s contribution by 8.34% in the new fiscal year starting July 1 to $964,453 — the lowest share cost among the partners.
That is still less than the $27 million the county has tentatively planned to spend if it built its own library in the district. York operates its own separate library system in addition to participating in the Williamsburg regional library.
The three localities in the regional library system are charged according to residents’ use of the libraries, determined by the number of items they check out.
James City pays the largest share of operating costs -- which is going up to $6.5 for this coming year -- because its residents account for 73% of the items checked out from the library system, according to library figures. Williamsburg and York County residents almost equally divide the balance of use.
Williamsburg’s share is going down in the library’s proposed 2027 budget to $1.1 million.
York supervisors are concerned about rising costs to operate the regional library, and the more than $50 million that its partners plan to spend on two new library buildings.
Under the regional arrangement, each local government bears the cost of constructing new facilities, but share the cost of ongoing operations.
Williamsburg Regional Library’s proposed budget for the year beginning July 1 is up 2.71% to $9.2 million, if the partners agree to pay their requested contribution as part of their own budgeting process.
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