MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — The first reading of the City of Morgantown’s General Budget for Fiscal Year 2025-26 has been approved by Morgantown City Council.
The general budget projected at approximately $45.31 million for the FY 25-26 was approved in a 5-0 vote during the council’s regular meeting Tuesday (Morgantown Deputy Mayor Jenny Selin and Councilor Brian Butcher was unable to attend). City Finance Director Jonathan Furgison presented additional details of the budget to the council, which has projected approximately $39.41 million in revenues for the upcoming fiscal year and around $5.95 million in carryover from the general fund from Fiscal Year 2024-25 to account for approximately $45.31 million in projected expenditures.
“This revenue category includes, but is not limited to, property taxes, business and occupation tax, excise tax, hotel occupancy tax, and the general funds allocation of municipal sales tax,” said Furgison on the revenue sources for the City of Morgantown General Budget.
Furgison offered a breakdown of the revenues collected to the council in a slightly different format in comparison to the committee of the whole budgets presented last month. While he broke down what was categorized in the approximately $27.2 million in tax revenues, he also included the collection of a combination of municipal service fees, fire protection fees, inspection fees, and garbage fees that are projected to total approximately $10.91 million. The remaining approximately in revenues outside of carryover are supported through a combination of licenses, fines, intergovernmental expenditures, and miscellaneous revenues. Furgison also noted that municipal sales tax revenues are projected to decline by just over $900,000 due to an adjustment on a state level.
“The West Virginia tax division is currently transitioning away from using the zip code plus format,” said Furgison on the reason for a potential decline in municipal sales tax revenues. “This transition may result in a potential 10 percent decrease in the total municipal sales tax committed to the city,” he said.
The total budget remains to be projected approximately $300,000 lower in comparison to the previous fiscal year.
The Municipal Sales Tax Fund is projected to have a budget of approximately $9 million for FY 2025-26.
City fire fee revenues are projected to be at just above $4.57 million as a result of the 15 percent increase that was passed by the council, with City Municipal Service Fee revenues projected to remain stagnant at approximately $4.2 million. An additional $1.8 million is expected to be collected from separate fire fees separate from the ones raised.
For expenditures allocated for Fiscal Year 2025-26, Furgison reported that the most costly expenditure was valued at just over $25 million, which will be directed towards personnel expenditures for the year, a slight increase from the previous fiscal year. The rest of the expenditures were split through over a dozen different city departments, with the Morgantown Police Department, the City Fire Department, and the City Street Department all receiving projected allocations of over $3 million. While the largest expenditure was transfers to city funds (approx. $10.65 million), the Morgantown City Manager’s Office, the City Finance Department, City Code Enforcement, the City Garbage Department, and City Hall maintenance each have allocations of over $1 million in projected expenditures.
“Total transfers to other funds $10,113,103, police department is $10,655,000, fire department is $8,000,113, and public works is $3,731,976,” said Furgison in the breakdown of the top expenditures accounted for in the general fund budget.
Approximately $400,000 is allocated towards the City of Morgantown Contingency Fund.
Adjustments to the City of Morgantown Fiscal Year 2025-26 General Fund Budget are expected to be made throughout the fiscal year as more revenue numbers are finalized.
The Morgantown City Council also approved the bid contract for the Cobun Creek Bridge Construction Project, which was awarded to SQP Construction Group Inc. for $1.44 million. The bid was approved in a 5-0 vote and will support the construction of an all-concrete bridge that is expected to have 42 feet of wide walking space and will connect the northern and southern portions of White Park. The Morgantown Utility Board will pay for the project as part of an agreement with the utility, BOAPRC, and the City of Morgantown.
“This bridge was a long time coming, I’m very happy that we’ve been able to work out an agreement between the city and MUB,” said Councilor Dave Harshbarger, who also serves on the MUB board. “To see this, to now, a build stage and hopefully reality soon, so very pleased to see this to this point,” he said.
The Cobun Creek Bridge Construction Project is expected to break ground within the next couple of months.
The Morgantown City Council also approved the appointment of former Circuit Court Judge Debra Scudiere as Morgantown Municipal Judge in a 5-0 vote during their meeting on Tuesday.