MORGANTOWN – Morgantown City Council has authorized Finance Director Jon Furgison to begin moving the city’s cash reserves out of private banking institutions and into the West Virginia Board of Treasury Investments (WVBTI) Consolidated Fund.
Furgison made the case for the move earlier this week.
“My job is to help you to maximize the utility of public funds. And this, in my professional and personal opinion, is what I call a no-brainer,” he said. “I’m just saying that this is a win-win for both the city and for the taxpayers – the opportunity to earn additional interest on existing funds without having to do anything really much at all.”
According to information presented by the city, there are currently six money market accounts in United Bank and one in Community Bank, totaling just over $23.1 million as of Oct. 31. The largest of those, the city’s capital escrow fund money market account, makes up nearly half that total.
As of Tuesday, the United Bank accounts were earning 2.472% interest and the Community Bank account had an interest rate of 2.360%.
“Roughly a year ago, when we did begin opening these accounts, those interest rates were significantly higher. They were approximately 4%. They have since dropped down, and that has become very concerning for us at this time,” Furgison said, explaining the Consumer Price Index has risen to 3% in recent months.
“So, what that really means is that the value of the dollar over the past 12 months has actually decreased 3% on average, which means if we are earning 2.4% on our money, but yet the decrease in the value of our dollar, or the purchasing ability that we currently have … is greater than how much we’re earning, we are actually working backwards.”
As of Tuesday, the WVBTI West Virginia Money Market Account posted a daily rate of 4.1305%.
It was pointed out that having the city’s funds invested with WVBTI between October 2024 and September 2025 would have earned the city an additional $144,063.12.
“We are talking about a significant amount of potential interest that we could be earning if they were invested in a different financial institution than what we are currently investing in now,” Furgison said.
The WVBTI was created by the West Virginia Legislature to handle short-term investments for state agencies and political subdivisions, including cities, counties, boards of education, development authorities, public libraries, public service districts, fire departments and others.
The WVBTI’s West Virginia Money Market Pool, which is where the city is looking to place its money, currently has pool assets of approximately $8.8 billion.
Because a large percentage, if not the majority, of the money invested by political subdivisions is idle, but obligated, funds invested in the WVBTI pools are available for daily withdrawal.
Furgison said the transition will be gradual.
“We’re not going to move everything all at once. We’re going to dip our toes into the water. We’re basically going to move over a portion of what we have,” he said, later adding, “Obviously, we’re going to maximize our investment to the best of our ability, given the parameters of the city’s short-term investment policy. But right now, our intentions are to invest into the West Virginia money market account, which offers the highest rate of return.”
The resolution approved by council also authorized participation in WVBTI’s West Virginia Government Money Market Pool and West Virginia Short Term Bond Pool, should those options become advantageous in the future.
