MORGANTOWN – The Monongalia County Commission said it intends to contact the Monongalia County Board of Education for a second time regarding just over $189,000 in tax proceeds that were incorrectly remitted to the BOE in previous years.
In March 2025, the commission sent a letter to both the BOE and the city of Westover explaining that excess taxes tied to the Menards parcel in the University Town Centre TIF district had been improperly remitted to both in the 2020, 2021 and 2022 fiscal years.
The letter explained that the parcel was not included in the certified assessed values of the TIF district for those years and, as a result, the levying bodies were remitted TIF taxes in addition to the proper base taxes for that parcel.
The total amount requested of the BOE is $189,243.21 – $34,450.11 (2020); $35,072.50 (2021); $119,720.60 (2022).
Westover was asked to pay back $121,935.06 – $22,197.24 (2020); $22,598.26 (2021); $77,139.56 (2022).
Both the county ($108,642.71) and state ($2,438.70) also incorrectly received funds over the three-year period.
The commission was made aware of the discrepancy in May 2024, during the lead-up to a critical bond payment by developer WestRidge.
In order to allow that process to move forward, the county covered the entire $422,259.68 and reached out to Westover and the BOE for reimbursement.
Among the repayment options offered was the deduction of the disputed amount from future tax distributions.
Commissioner Sean Sikora said Westover has made arrangements with the tax office to that end.
“But we’ve heard nothing from the BOE. Not even an acknowledgement of the receipt of the letter from the BOE, so I wanted to bring that up,” he said.
The commission intends to send a second copy of the March 2025 letter to the BOE.
