MORGANTOWN – It’s been a sticking point from the start.
In October 2024, the Monongalia County Commission formalized the distribution method through which it would disperse state funds coming in through the All-County Fire Protection Fund and the County Fire Protection Fund – both created during the 2023 special session of the West Virginia Legislature.
It wasn’t to the liking of the Monongalia County Volunteer Fire Association.
The body’s president at the time called it “a slap in the face to the association” for a couple reasons.
One, it included the Morgantown Fire Department, which, the commission explained, was based on the fact that Morgantown asked to be part of the distribution and the law made no distinction between paid and volunteer departments.
Two, it included the creation of a contingency fund – 10% of the first year’s allocations and 5% each year going forward – to be held for extraordinary expenses approved by the VFA.
The association had requested that the entirety be split among the county’s 12 volunteer departments, with questions about Morgantown and a contingency fund to be addressed at a later date.
Fast forward to Wednesday, the commission approved $37,602.80 from the contingency fund for repairs to the county’s primary tanker, a 2011 Freightliner.
Jason Todd, assistant chief of the Clinton District VFD and secretary of the VFA, called foul.
“This is not what that contingency fund was created for. It was created in case a volunteer fire department ended up in a financial burden where they could request that money. You guys came out to Cassville’s Fire Department, two of you did, and discussed how that money would be used and what we had to do as the association to get that money released – sending in minutes and a request,” he said. “It was not agreed upon to use that money to fix the county tanker. That was the responsibility of the county commission … If we keep using it for stuff that it’s not intended for, it won’t be there if we need it.”
The commission took exception to all of that.
Commissioner Jeff Arnett noted that despite references to “the county tanker,” the tanker is not owned by the county, but was purchased by the county commission and titled over to the VFA in 2016.
While it serves as the primary association-owned tanker covering the county out of Granville, there are a handful of others owned by the individual volunteer departments.
“This contingency fund has been a public contention ever since we created it. I think it’s interesting that now we’re being told that we need this contingency fund when, since it was created three years ago, all we’ve heard was complaining that we were holding back the volunteer fire departments’ money,” Commissioner Sean Sikora said. “Regardless, these repairs wouldn’t be available if the county didn’t hold this money back so these repairs could be done. For two or three months, we’ve been told that this tanker needed repairs, and that’s what we’re doing.”
It was explained that the tanker repair will require a little over half of the $70,000 currently in the contingency fund. This is the seventh emergency repair covered by the account, according to the commission.
“The very nature of this fund is what we’re using it for, so that’s why I really don’t understand the consternation behind it,” Arnett said. “There are still funds there, and I can assure you that, at least in my experience, the commission doesn’t turn a blind eye when the association needs something. We have a way of figuring this out, but that’s what this is for.”
As mentioned, the two funding sources created by the legislature are the All-County Fire Protection Fund, which distributes state funds to all 55 counties based on population, and the County Fire Protection Fund, which distributes funds to counties that have a countywide fire levy or fire fees in place as an incentive for counties to proactively support fire service.
As Monongalia County has a countywide fire levy, it receives distributions from both.
To date, Monongalia County has received a total of $540,160.93 through the All-County Fire Protection Fund, and $634,974.87 through the County Fire Protection Fund — for a total of $1,175,135.80.
Sikora said all of that money has been evenly distributed to the departments except $78,274.24 that went into the contingency fund.
An additional $23,915 in interest earned on the state funding prior to the county sorting out its distribution plan was also placed into the contingency account.
