MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Additional property transfers towards the Morgantown Land Reuse and Preservation Agency have been given a formal green light by the Morgantown City Council, while extra sales tax revenues are approved to be allocated by the city.

The council unanimously approved the transfer of 19 properties located within five wards during their regular meeting Tuesday as part of a large-scale redevelopment effort by the agency. This was followed by the unanimous passage of a rescheduling of a public meeting related to the application to amend the boundaries of the TIF as part of the original Sunnyside Up Project Plan as well as an adjustment of over $400,000 in sales tax revenues that are now expected to come to the city.

“We’d like to return underused city property to the tax rolls,” said Morgantown Land Reuse and Preservation Agency Chair Jessica McDonald in her presentation to the council. “And that’s why we’re here today, asking that you transfer those properties that weren’t being highly used to us so that we can flip them back into a better use.”

According to representatives with the Morgantown Land Reuse and Preservation Agency, the transfers of 19 properties from the City of Morgantown are mainly vacant lots or small pieces of property located by Morgantown homeowners. The plan for the agency is to first offer the pieces of property to said homeowners as a way to complete their property ownership or to further develop the transferred properties for future city use. Any proceeds from sales will be used to support the agency’s plan to continue a large-scale redevelopment of the Lower Greenmont Neighborhood, where several dozen properties along Pennsylvania Avenue have been marked for potential redevelopment.

“That’s kind of where we are with the side lot program, property donations, those are things that we can do easily without any funding at all,” said McDonald. “Acquire some property and flip it and make some income from it.”

The council also unanimously approved a rescheduling of a public hearing related to the potential removal of the four parcels of property from the Sunnyside Tax Increment Financing (TIF) District. The new hearing, now set for the end of May after it was rescheduled at the request of the city in late April due to the cancellation of a previous public hearing, will address the removal of property at 555 Beechurst Avenue, which would account for approximately 4.3 acres that is currently the home of the Beechurst Power Plant. The request was made by the Campus Neighborhoods Revitalization Corporation to move forward with the removal of the four parcels.

“After the public hearing, they (the city) can submit an application for approval, and only after the state’s approval can they (city council) take up the ordinance that would actually make the change,” said Kay, Casto, and Chaney attorney representing the City of Morgantown Ryan Simonton, explaining the need for a public hearing. “So this will set that public hearing for your May 27th meeting.”

City of Morgantown Finance Director Jonathan Furgison also presented approximately three budget revisions valued at approximately $860,000 to the council in the closing minutes of the meeting, all of which were unanimously approved by the council. The revisions account for an approximately $149,000 transfer for city departments, an over $100,000 allocation to support equipment purchases for the Morgantown Fire Department, and an over $400,000 extra allocation of municipal sales tax funds. This, added to the continued allocation of retirement funds towards separate police and fire pension funds approved by the city council in late 2024, will reflect an over $600,000 transfer to both funds that will take place during the allocation of the extra sales tax dollars.

“Expectation was $9,600,000, our actual revenues were $10,090,694, that’s a five percent increase from the original budget,” said Furgison, breaking down the change in sales tax revenues for Fiscal Year 2025-26.

Approximately $122,000 of the extra sales tax revenues will be allocated towards BOPARC.