Supervisors Approve $93.4 Million Budget in Front of a Packed Room of Samuels Library Supporters – Is Courthouse Next?

The Warren County Board of Supervisors began its Special Meeting of June 24, 2025, at 5 p.m. with a nearly one-hour Closed Session running up to the scheduled start of its 6 p.m. open meeting. The motion into Closed Meeting indicated that once again the board went behind closed doors with legal counsel to discuss aspects of the legal and contractual situations the board’s four-person majority, minus South River District’s Cheryl Cullers, has created around it’s collective desire to void the 75-to-225-year relationship with the entity now known as Samuels Public Library.

A couple minutes before 6 p.m. the board, its attorney Jason Ham, center, and other staff emerged from behind closed doors to head into an open Special Meeting. However, Ham had business elsewhere and handed open meeting legal duties over to Litton-Sipe colleague Daniel Rose. Royal Examiner Photos Roger Bianchini

The Open Special Meeting agenda included three public hearings on staff-suggested County Code changes to provide added clarity or come in line with code changes at the State level. All three passed unanimously. A staff summary of those code change items will be included near the end of this story, along with the full motion into Closed Session.

Other “New Business” included approval of a 10-item Consent Agenda on coming action items. It was approved as presented.

Also on the agenda was an update on programs and funding variables of the Warren Coalition presented by Christa Shifflett, a 15-year veteran on the Coalition. And while her planned graphics-assisted presentation was hampered by tech issues, she managed to get across the nature of many of the Warren Coalition programs directed at rehabilitation of both adults and youth from various life issues they have encountered, including drugs, alcohol, abuse, and homelessness.

When South River Supervisor Cheryl Cullers thanked Shifflett “for all you do” with the Warren Coalition, the packed meeting room broke into extended applause.

Christa Shifflett of the Warren Coalition at the podium got some late help from County tech personnel for graphics access to help update the board on Coalition activities to the benefit of county citizens, young and older, in need of specialized assistance on multiple levels.

Samuels packs the meeting room – again

Here we will examine an ongoing theme of County business over the last year, the current board of supervisor majority’s effort to end the County’s longstanding relationship with award-winning, including Virginia Library of the Year 2024, Samuels Public Library. The entity that evolved into “Samuels” 501-C3 non-profit circa the 1950’s, when it was named after a director who donated his Chester Street home property to be the new library facility, had become the second State approved community public library in Virginia in 1799.

There was no action out of Closed Session unless you count the inclusion of access to, or a lack thereof, to public library funding in what was cited at the amount of $1.024-million in the board’s primary action of the Special Meeting, approval of its submitted Fiscal Year-2026 budget. FY-26 begins July 1, just a week away. The full FY-2026 Warren County Budget is $93,440,000.

Four of the five supervisors were phycially present, and one John Stanmeyer, was remotely linked in.

Library funding in Limbo?

Supervisor Vicky Cook’s reading of a motion of approval of the submitted FY-2026 budget included this passage: “I move that the Resolution approved for the Fiscal Year 2025 and 2026 budget appropriating funds for Warren County, Virginia, be adopted with the following changes:

“That the appropriation sending $1,024,000 to the Warren County Library Board remain in the budget, but not appropriated at this time.”

Exactly what the implication and motive for that change is remains to be seen. Perhaps saving for the potential of legal fees from anticipated hostile litigation with Samuels Public Library should the board majority pursue its desired new provider? It would appear that the money now in the budget but not appropriated is for the WC Library Board to distribute to the County’s contracted public library provider once that decision is finalized and a contract signed.

The board majority’s recently created Warren County Library Board (WCLB) believed packed with like minded, anti-Samuels members, was given the job of selecting a firm from those applying to the County’s Request For Proposals (RFP) on library services. And the WCLB recommended LS&S, which had also submitted an allegedly unsolicited application prior to the launch of the RFP. As previously reported, that early application included a passage saying that LS&S, “looked forward to helping the County achieve its vision for the library”.

Cheryl Cullers, closest, was again as usual lately, not only somewhat physically separated from her colleagues, but issue wise as well, particularly regarding Samuels Library, as well as some other departmental funding needs not fully met by her colleagues due to revenue limitations.

Following Supervisor Cook’s reading of the motion of approval of the submitted budget, Supervisor Cullers explained her coming “no” vote: “I’m going to vote no because there are some funding levels I just don’t agree with …” So, the motion forwarding the budget as amended above passed 4-1, with Cullers lone dissenting vote.

Pending legal battle

Despite Samuels status as Virginia’s Library of the Year 2024 and the length of the Public/Private Partnership some date back 226 years, it is believed the library funding will be earmarked by the board majority for the above referenced out-of-state based, for-profit entity Library Systems & Services (LS&S). That anticipated change comes despite a number of disputed legal factors likely to end up in hostile litigation between the county government and Samuels Library’s non-profit 501-C3.

Prominent among those legal factors are 14 years remaining on a 30-year lease a previous board entered into with Samuels in 2008, at a cost of one dollar per year rent for the County-owned facility Samuels occupies on Criser Road. Another legal hot potato is Samuels claim to ownership of all its books, furnishings, and other interior operational materials utilized in its many programs offered to adult and child patrons. Samuels officials point out the purchase of all  those materials inside the library’s current location were made with patron donations, Endowment funds, or State grants, not county taxpayer money.

Will the County soon find itself in court in likely costly legal battles with Samuels Public Library?

However, it is likely to be taxpayer money authorized by the sitting board majority to fight any legal battles with Samuels, as well as to fund the setting up of LS&S as a community public library that it appears will be competing with Samuels Public Library.

Samuels ‘not going anywhere’

“We’re not going anywhere,” Samuels officials have said of the apparent lack of County funding and contracting beginning July 1. Library officials have reported a surge in patron donations as the legal battles with the county government, fostered by the current elected majority, looms. And per their facility lease, claimed materials ownership, and Endowment Fund reserves, Samuels appears ready to operate independently at its current location beginning July 1.

And perhaps not coincidently, Tuesday’s open Special Meeting of the Board of Supervisors was witnessed by a Warren County Government Center (WCGC) meeting room once again largely filled, it appeared perhaps exclusively other than County staff, with Samuels Library patrons and supporters, as well as Samuels officials and Board of Trustee members.

A pro-Samuels Library crowd gathered as they waited for the supervisors to come out of closed session as 6 p.m. approached.

And that show of public support came despite the fact that the Special Meeting would not include a Public Concerns/Comments section. That, coupled with the fact the budget Public Hearing was held two weeks earlier on June 10th, facilitating the FY-2026 County budget approval vote of June 24, eliminated the board majority having to again listen to pointed public criticism of their motivation, honesty, and rationale for a change of public library providers.

That packed house of supporters again indicated the large majority support Samuels Library seems to have countywide, everywhere it would seem other than with the current supervisors majority of John Stanmeyer, Richard Jamieson, “Jay” Butler, and Vicky Cook. And it must be noted the latter two are lame ducks not seeking re-election to their Happy Creek and Fork District seats, respectively, in November.

And why do we need a library change?

In a recent response press release by the Save Samuels Political Action Committee (PAC) to a release from the supervisor majority critical of Samuels, the publicly stated reason for removal of Samuels was again called into question. The board majority has cited a lack of financial transparency or disclosure as its motive. However, many from library officials, to supporting patrons, and past 28-year Supervisor Tony Carter, who has come out of political retirement to fight to maintain the Samuels/County partnership, have said all the transparency is, not only there, but has been in place for decades, if not longer.

The Save Samuels PAC said of the planned switch of public library providers: “They want to hand our library to LS&S, a private company that refuses to give a line-item budget, hides behind ‘proprietary’ protections, and isn’t subject to FOIA,” the Save Samuels PAC wrote, adding this estimate: “The price tag? Over $600,000 dollars in taxpayer-funded legal fees. All to break a lease and seize a library that wasn’t broken.”

And it should be noted again that the current supervisor majority plans to put a $250,000 price tag on cancellation of a projected 10-year contract with FS&S in its first year. It is a price tag that would reduce by $25,000 per year for the additional 9 years of the proposed contract.

Rather than what are largely perceived as fictional financial issues with Samuels, a majority of Samuels supporters believe the board majority’s attack on Samuels Public Library is a continuation of the 2023 “Clean Up Samuels” effort to have all LGBTQ-themed books removed from the library. See Royal Examiner’s past coverage of these issues for more detail.

Budget totals

Here is an agenda packet overview on the budget resolution propelling the total FY-2026 Warren County Budget forward, with a category breakdown:

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Board of Supervisors of Warren County, that the proposed County General Fund budget (the “Budget,” the official copy of which is on file in the office of the Clerk) in the amount of $93,440,000 be and is hereby adopted pursuant to the allocations by major categories:

General Government Administration: $5,137,687;

Judicial Administration:  $2,181,417;

Public Safety: $18,286,334

Public Works: $7,329,416

Health and Welfare: $559,500

Recreation & Cultural: $2,405,786

Regional Partnerships: $5,095,693

Community Development: $1,015,172

Non-Departmental: $5,615,575

Deb Service: $11,672,185

Transfers to Other Funds: $34,141,235

TOTAL GENERAL FUND BUDGET –  $93,440,000

As the FY-26 budget vote loomed for a board that had made it clear they did not support any tax hikes, even to help fund publicly desired services, Shenandoah District Supervisor Stanmeyer, who was hooked in remotely from London, England, where he said he was on business, said this:

“I’ll just repeat what I said two weeks ago, that the County Administration did a really good job on this budget. Yes, it is a scary budget and we’re in a hard place. But most departments were level funded or even took cuts. We were able to give a little increase to the schools, not as much as we wanted but it could have been zero, and we got a non-trivial increase for them. And I’m looking forward to working on tourism and growing commercial revenue so that we’re out of this scary mode as soon as possible.”

Public Schools share

As to the County Public Schools share in the agenda packet, there was this staff summary: “WHEREAS, the School Board budget totals $80,646,432 (the “School Board Budget”). The School Board Budget shall be funded by $29,400,000 from the County’s general revenues, $46,910,072 by such State, Federal, and miscellaneous revenues as shall be received from time to time for operation of the Public Schools, and $4,336,360 shall be appropriated to the School Food Services Fund paid by State, Federal and miscellaneous revenues.”

Public Hearing topics

As noted above, all three were approved unanimously:

1. Public Hearing – Z2025-05-03 – Zoning Text Amendments for Agricultural Pursuits in the Commercial and Industrial Districts – Warren County Planning Staff – An ordinance to amend Chapter 180 of the Warren County Code (Zoning Ordinance) to add existing agricultural pursuits as a use permissible by right and to add new agricultural pursuits as a use permissible only by conditional use permit in the Industrial and Commercial zoning districts. – Chase Lenz, Zoning Administrator
2. Public Hearing – Z2025-05-04 – Subdivision Ordinance Text Amendments – Warren County Planning Staff – An ordinance to amend Chapter 155 of the Warren County Code (Subdivision Ordinance) to update definitions, plat submittal requirements, and plat review procedures in accordance with recent changes to Chapter 22 of Title 15.2 of the Code of Virginia. – Chase Lenz, Zoning Administrator
3. Public Hearing – Z2025-05-05 – Zoning Text Amendments for Application Requirements – Warren County Planning Staff – An ordinance to amend Chapter 180 of the Warren County Code (Zoning Ordinance) to remove a reference to subdivision and exclusive language from the application requirements of the zoning ordinance – Chase Lenz, Zoning Administrator

Supervisor John Stanmeyer is over Zoning Administrator Chase Lenz’s shoulder by remote hookup from London, as Lenz handled background summaries of the three Public Hearings on staff-suggested Zoning Code amendments. All were unanimously approved

The motion into Closed Session

The below underlined emphasis was added:

I move that the Warren Board of Supervisors enter into a closed meeting under Section 2.2-3711(A)(29) for the discussion of the award of a public contract involving the expenditure of public funds, including interviews of bidders or offerors, and discussion of the terms or scope of such contract, where discussion in an open session would adversely affect the bargaining position or negotiating strategy of the public body. The subject matter is Library Services.

I further move that the Board enter into a closed meeting under Section 2.2-3711(A)(8) for the purpose of the provision of legal advice regarding specific legal matters requiring such advice. The subject matters are the budget appropriation, the providing of library services including the Library Funding Agreement, FOIA matters, and the lease dated 1/22/2008 with the Board of Trustees of Samuels Public Library.

Stay tuned, sports fans as November Election Day approaches with the existing four-person majority of Warren County elected officials appearing poised to ignore what looks to be a vast majority of the county residents they were elected to serve in the best interest of. Many are asking, will they choose personal agendas over public service?

Click here to watch the June 24, 2025, Board of Supervisors Meeting.