MORGANTOWN — A bill passed by the West Virginia Legislature in 2020 is about to transfer funds into the county’s coffers.
Monongalia County Clerk Carye Blaney explained that House Bill 2967 lays out a phased elimination of the state’s excise tax on property transfers.
Starting with the 2022 fiscal year, which began July 1, the county will recoup an additional 10% of state excise tax collected on property transfers until July 2030, at which point all the funds will simply remain in the county.
“So just on average for last year, the portion of excise tax that we sent to the state of West Virginia for fiscal year 21 was about $1.5 million. So we’re looking, starting with this fiscal year, to start recouping about $150,000 to $200,000 a year,” Blaney told members of the Monongalia County Commission. “That will phase out over a 10-year period and will come back to be all on the county’s side.”
Also on Wednesday, Blaney said her office will handle the Monongalia County Board of Education’s Sept. 25 special election.
Voters will be asked to renew the BOE’s excess levy, which is projected to bring in nearly $32 million for the district, if passed.
The BOE will cover the cost of the election, but the commission will need to sit as the canvassing board on Oct. 1 in order to certify the results.
Commission President Sean Sikora said the commission heard about the BOE’s decision to hold a special election “through the grapevine.”
“I wish they would have come and talked to us ahead of time. I’ve been urging them for four years to address their next excess levy,” Sikora said. “Thank you for letting us know.”
Lastly, the commission approved $785,200 in 2022 budget requests from the county’s three parks.
A $320,000 spending plan for Chestnut Ridge was approved, which is a $5,000 increase from the 2021 fiscal year. Camp Muffly will operate on $308,700, up from $281,974, and Mason-Dixon Historical Park’s budget was bumped up $2,400 to $156,500.
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