Some Norfolk rec centers and libraries will stay closed, even when the pandemic winds down

Norfolk — Budget woes will likely keep many of Norfolk’s libraries and rec centers closed well into 2021, if not longer — even after the pandemic eases.

That was the message as city staff rolled out a budget analysis to council members recently, noting tax revenues still haven’t bounced back and aren’t expected to for many more months.

While officials say there are currently no plans to permanently close any facilities, they’ve also said restoring suspended services would put next year’s city budget in the red.

“We will have a fiscal year budget that will require us to alter our service levels for rec centers and libraries,” City Manager Chip Filer said in an interview last week. “We’ll do it in a manner that’s as least disruptive as possible.”

The city slashed $40 million in spending last spring to keep pace with millions of tax revenue lost due to the pandemic. Mostly, it cut costs by temporarily shuttering libraries and rec centers and furloughing hundreds of staff. As the pandemic has dragged on, some facilities have reopened in a limited capacity but many remain closed completely and the city laid off dozens of full-time library and parks and rec employees in December.

The city has six libraries open now offering curbside pickups of rentals and some browsing on limited schedules. Six libraries are fully closed for the time being, as are the three computer resource centers run by Norfolk Public Libraries.

[ Previous coverage: Norfolk reopens more libraries and pools — with some limits ]

Of the more than two dozen parks and rec facilities listed on the city’s website, just six rec centers and three community pools are currently operating in a limited capacity.

And while things may be improving on the pandemic front, tax revenue still hasn’t come back, and the city won’t start economically recovering until sometime in late 2021 or early 2022, Norfolk Budget Director Greg Patrick said in a presentation to council.

“We’re projected to have roughly enough money next year to provide what we’re providing right now,” he said in an interview last week. Any more, and the city would have to either cut from somewhere else or raise taxes.

Council members have regularly brought up the continued closures of libraries and rec centers at meetings in recent months, with many noting some constituents have been agitating for reopening.

Councilman Tommy Smigiel, who represents Ocean View and surrounding areas, has said the city at least needs to get a road map in place for how it will fully reopen city facilities once there’s enough money.

“Norfolk has taken more of a conservative approach to reopening … we are starting to see from people they want things open, they’re paying for them with their taxes,” Smigiel said last week. “Other cities have now at this point figured out ways that we could reopen.”

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Some also have worried about longer-term impacts on the library and rec center systems, and whether closures could become permanent. Over the past several years, the idea of reducing the number of facilities in operation has come up periodically at city council.

Most recently, a council retreat in February 2020 included a presentation from staff on the possibility of using usage and geographic data to create “fewer, better” facilities, including joint library-rec centers.

But those discussions have not translated into operational moves or budget proposals, and Filer said there are no plans now to permanently close any library branch or recreation facility.

“We would never begin closing facilities until we opened the ‘fewer-better,’” Filer said this week.

In the near term, Filer said reopening shuttered facilities would require hiring back staff that had been laid off, which would take time and money.

The manager is expected to present his full budget proposal to the City Council later this month. The council will have several weeks of discussions to sort out the city’s spending priorities — and will hear from residents — before passing the budget late in the spring.

Ryan Murphy, 757-739-8582, ryan.murphy@pilotonline.com