MORGANTOWN — It’s not time to sound the alarm, Morgantown Finance Director Kevin Tennant said Tuesday, but it’s certainly time to pay attention.
Tennant appeared before Morgantown City Council to walk through the first public look at the $45,031,858 fiscal year 2025 draft budget his office has spent the last four months putting together.
He said the process was a little more painful this time around.
“Revenues are good. I don’t want to say they’re not, but they have flattened out. I think the goal for this year and the goal going forward will be to closely monitor expenses and control expenses so we don’t start growing faster than our revenues will allow,” he said.
“If we back out the carryover amount of $6 million from the proposed 2025 budget, we get just a little over $39 million in revenue, and that’s where we’ve been at for the last several years.”
The city is projecting $14,575,000 or just over 32% of its general fund revenues will come by way of general business and occupation taxes.
About $1.5 million in B&O Construction taxes are anticipated. That’s up from the $500,000 projected for the current fiscal year.
“We are aware of one major project within the city by WVU Medicine that should increase our B&O Construction amount from prior year, but if you’ll notice in the graph, we’re still way off where we were a few years ago with all the project around town,” Tennant said.
B&O construction taxes are generated by construction projects of more than $5 million and used by the city to fund its own one-time capital improvement expenditures. Construction taxes peaked at just over $6 million in the 2021 fiscal year but have been in decline since.
The municipal sales tax is the city’s second largest earner. It’s expected to generate about $2.4 million per quarter and $9.6 million for the year.
The city’s $3 weekly municipal service fee is expected to bring in about $4.2 million.
As for expenditures, Tennant said the city’s classification and compensation study resulted in an average salary increase of .82%.
The 2025 budget will also include a 2% cost of living increase.
It will also be the first budget in which the city ambassador and marketing coordinator positions won’t be reimbursed by American Rescue Plan Act dollars.
Even so, three new positions have been recommended — a zoning coordinator in the city’s planning office; a GIS manager under the city manager’s office and fixed-base operator at the Morgantown Municipal Airport.
“Personnel costs in the general fund make up a little over 58% of our total spend out of the general fund. It’s a little heavy,” he said.
Council will take up a first reading of the 2025 budget as part of its March 5 regular meeting.
The new fiscal year begins July 1.
