MORGANTOWN – The Morgantown Utility Board on Tuesday approved its operating budgets for the 2027 fiscal year, which begins July 1.
The budgets anticipate total revenues of $45,082,362 spread across four utilities – water ($18,718,255); sewer ($20,095,805); Cheat Lake sewer ($3,843,489); and stormwater ($2,424,813).
Expenditures are broken down into three categories, the largest of which is operating expenses at $25,475,979.
Comptroller Chip Royce explained that number includes a cost of living adjustment for MUB employees. MUB is also anticipating the cost of insurance to increase for both employees and the organization.
“We’re proposing a 3% COLA increase. Our medical insurance, we have Plan C which is high deductible. It did go up, on the average, about 3% for all of our employees. Also, our liability insurance, we’re meeting with USI next week to get the firm quote on our insurance increase. We put in 10% to be safe. We’re going to go with WVcorp more than likely,” Comptroller Chip Royce explained.
WVcorp, or West Virginia Communities Risk Pool, is a member-owned self insurance risk pool established in 2007.
The Monongalia County Commission moved its liability insurance to WVcorp in 2018. Both the city of Westover and the Mountain Line Transit Authority have since made the move.
In terms of employee insurance costs, under the strategy adopted by MUB in March 2025 the increase in employee insurance rates described will be absorbed by the organization. MUB covers the deductible cost for its employees using health savings accounts.
Behind operating expenses, debt requirements make up MUB’s second highest expenditure, totaling $12,977,294, or just under $1.1 million monthly.
Lastly, MUB is anticipating $6,629,090 in capital improvement expenditures in the coming fiscal year.
The $45,082,362 total made up of the four utility budgets represents a slight decrease, about 1.85%, compared to the budgets approved this time last year, which totaled $45,934,468.28.
