FISCAL NOTE
Date Requested: January 23, 2026
Time Requested: 03:32 PM |
| Agency: |
Administration, WV Department of |
|---|
| CBD Number: |
Version: |
Bill Number: |
Resolution Number: |
| 3019 |
Introduced |
SB598 |
|
|---|
| CBD Subject: |
Finance and Administration |
|---|
|
FUND(S):
Appropriated Special Revenue
Sources of Revenue:
Special Fund Capitol Renovations and Improvement Fund (2462)
Legislation creates:
Creates New Expense
Fiscal Note Summary
Effect this measure will have on costs and revenues of state government.
Replacing the Robert C Byrd with four (4) statues located in the Upper Rotunda of the Main Capitol Building would require two considerations, each with a fiscal impact.
The first would be the consideration of the treatment of the existing statute. If the existing statute is going to be relocated, the destination would impact costs. The statue has been installed indoors for its entire existence. Relocating it indoors would require a space sufficient for its size, roughly 13’ tall including both marble plinth (45”) and bronze figure (9’). Relocating it outdoors may require construction of a suitable base. Moving it could require very delicate effort. Relocating the statue could require expenses between $5000.00 and $15000.00, depending on the aforementioned circumstances.
The second consideration would be the cost of producing four (4) indoor statues, proposed to be one (1) each for George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, James Madison, and Arthur I. Boreman, each installed in the marble niches in the four “corners” The price of statuary can vary greatly, depending first on design. If the intent were to be to replace the statues with ones of similar size, scale and form as the existing Robert C. Byrd statue, with a marble plinth and larger than life-sized representation of the figures in bronze, it is believed the cost could approach $100,000.00 for each figure. Costs (and funding sources) for the original 1997 Byrd statue are immediately unavailable, and no more recent similar installations under the authority of the WV Department of Administration have occurred. However, the Department generally believes that a human-sized bronze statue, with no marble plinth or accessory plaques, would cost approximately $20,000.00 to $25,000.00, multiplying by four (4) for a total of $80,000.00 to $100,000.00. It is assumed that smaller installations, requiring less sculpting, such as the bronze busts on pedestals (e.g. Anna Jarvis, Thomas Jackson, and Cleve Bailey) in the Lower Capitol Rotunda, would cost less. Thus, size, scale and form substantially determine overall costs.
Secondarily, the cost of artistic statuary can also vary based upon the prominence of the artist selected to perform the work. A recent example of a cursory exploration of cost - for a cluster of three (3) life-sized sculptures for a potential memorial funded by private fund-raising efforts, inferred a cost of $500,000.00 for the set. Generally, the WV Department of Administration, General Services Division, believes that the intent of the proposed legislation could likely be met by the use of an artist of minor prominence, settling the total cost at a lower number.
Fiscal Note Detail
| Effect of Proposal |
Fiscal Year |
2026
Increase/Decrease
(use"-") |
2027
Increase/Decrease
(use"-") |
Fiscal Year
(Upon Full
Implementation) |
| 1. Estmated Total Cost |
0 |
300,000 |
2,000 |
| Personal Services |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Current Expenses |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Repairs and Alterations |
0 |
300,000 |
2,000 |
| Assets |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Other |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| 2. Estimated Total Revenues |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Explanation of above estimates (including long-range effect):
A bill proposed during the 2024 2nd Extraordinary Session, believed to have originated from the Department of Arts, Culture and History, estimated the cost for this same installation of four (4) statues at $300,000.00. With no knowledge of the details of the aforementioned considerations, the WV Department of Administration, General Services Division, has no reason to agree or disagree with the appropriateness of that estimate. However, it is not deemed unreasonable, based upon the same observations expressed herein. Therefore, this Fiscal Note assumes a base overall cost of $300,000.00.
The proposed legislation designates that the funding to support the effort would come from the Capitol Renovation Improvement Fund (2462), an appropriated special revenue fund generated by a small portion of Racetrack Video Lottery Net Income (pursuant to WV Code (29-22A-10(c)(8)(B)(iv) and distributed in line item 360(4) of both introduced Budget Bills for FY2027, in the amount of $2,381,252), used for maintenance and renovation projects on the Capitol Complex. While the fund carries sufficient cash balance to cover the estimated costs, other qualifying renovation projects may need to be cancelled, delayed, or refined to accommodate this one-time expenditure. Costs for maintaining the statuary after installation would likely be between $1000.00 and $2000.00 per year, again depending on final scale, and would also ostensibly come from this same funding source.
Memorandum
The preceding Fiscal Note Summary and Detail are provided as a range of estimates because the proposed legislation does not include details as to the precise scale and artistic prominence of the statuary, and of the intended fate of the existing statue (i.e. "replace" as "remove" or "relocate"). Some clarification could be warranted regarding location of the new statuary (i.e. lower or upper rotunda, the latter of which is location of the existing statue). The estimated $300,000.00 total cost is assumptive based on current details in the proposed legislation.
Person submitting Fiscal Note: Robert P Kilpatrick
Email Address: robert.p.kilpatrick@wv.gov