Updated, Sept. 5, 1:03 p.m.:
The Loudoun Board of Supervisors unanimously voted Wednesday morning to approve the first of two $31,500 payments to the Loudoun Museum and to direct county staff to review the museum’s progress in terms of fundraising and operations in six months.

Chairman Scott York (R-At Large) said he loves the “valuable history” of Loudoun County and sees no problem spending a little money to ensure its preservation.

Supervisor Ralph Buona (R-Ashburn), who made the motion to approve half the museum’s requested funding for fiscal year 2013, agreed with York, adding museum officials have made strong progress in the last two months in terms of compiling a plan for sustainability.

Original story, Sept. 1:
Loudoun County staff is set to recommend that the Board of Supervisors grant the Loudoun Museum its yearly funding during the board’s Sept 5 meeting.

While the amount in question is a mere $63,000 out of Loudoun County’s $1.8 billion budget, several of the Republican supervisors earlier this year targeted the museum as one of several examples of unnecessary government expenditures.

During March’s budget work sessions, the supervisors tentatively agreed to fund the museum for fiscal 2013, but only on the condition museum officials in the months ahead show more competence in raising private funds, consistently displaying a greater share of its collection, and bolstering its marketing.

By July, staff and some supervisors determined the museum hadn’t fully demonstrated a capacity or willingness to reinvigorate it’s fundraising and operations. At the July 9 Finance, Government Services and Operations Committee meeting, four supervisors voted unanimously to recommend that the full board withhold payment of any portion of the $63,000 contribution to the museum.

But on Sept. 5, staff will recommend the Board of Supervisors approve the first of the two $31,500 payments to the museum and direct staff to conduct a review of the museum’s progress in six months, according to county documents. Since the July 9 committee meeting, museum officials have composed a revamped business plan, a new resource development plan and a three-year budget implementation. Moreover, the museum has upped its visibility on the social media sites Facebook and Twitter.

“This means that the Loudoun Museum has demonstrated sufficient progress on the supervisors’ issues to warrant a recommendation of approval,” the museum’s Facebook page read Friday afternoon. “Like all of you, the county shows confidence in the future success of the Loudoun Museum, and we could not be more grateful.”

Located in downtown Leesburg on the corner of Loudoun and Wirt streets, the Loudoun Museum holds more than 8,000 county artifacts, including fine furniture, antique quilts and clothing, and documents holding the signature of George Washington and James Monroe.

The move to eliminate the county’s yearly grant to the museum was initially spearheaded by Supervisor Ken Reid (R-Leesburg) who said the museum was simply too reliant on government dollars.

“Museums like this across the country are losing interest from a variety of sources,” Reid said in March. “...by giving them continued government cash, they’re just going to operate the museum as they’ve always operated it. They’re not going to raise money, they’re not going to do anything different. Trust me.”

According to a report from the museum’s director, Elizabeth Whiting, over the past five years the county’s funding of the museum has declined from approximately $307,000 to $70,000. In addition, the museum’s revenue, including county funding, has declined from $425,000 to $103,000 as of the most recent fiscal year. Total museum expenses have declined over the same period from $443,000 to $96,000, while paid staff at the museum has dropped from approximately five full-time positions to one.