MORGANTOWN — The Monongalia County Commission is awaiting distribution of more than $500,000 in state funding to the county’s fire departments.
On Wednesday, it approved a method to do so.
Simply put, all 12 county volunteer departments (with one caveat) plus the Morgantown Fire Department will receive an initial allocation of $40,366.04.
Two bills passed during the 2023 special session of the West Virginia General Assembly created two $3 million pots to be distributed annually.
The first is the countywide fire protection fund, which is distributed to each county based on population. Monongalia County received $180,607.79 in 2023 and $182,565.56 in 2024 through the fund.
The second county fire protection fund is distributed to counties that have a countywide fire tax or countywide fire fee as an incentive to enable counties to proactively support fire protection efforts. Monongalia County received $209,749.13 through this fund in 2023 because of its fire excess tax. Expenditures for 2024 have not yet been received.
The Monongalia County Volunteer Fire Company Association recommended to the commission how to distribute these funds, which would be divided equally among the 12 departments.
This was established by the committee, with some changes.
One would withdraw 10% of the allocations received in 2023, retain 5% of all allocations after 2024, and create a reserve fund for emergency requests from departments working through the Volunteer Fire Association. That’s it.
Second, we added the Morgantown Fire Department to the list of agencies receiving assistance.
The purpose of the legislation creating these funding sources may have been to support the state’s 420 or so volunteer departments, but that specification was not included in the final language.
“It’s absolutely clear that this legislation is for firefighting. Volunteer fire departments are not specifically identified,” said committee chairman Sean Sikora.
Morgantown residents have been paying the county’s excess fire tax since it was first passed in 2016, in addition to the fire fees they pay to support the Morgantown Fire Department. Still, MFDs are not included in the allocation of levy funds. That changed with the May 2024 levy renewal, when the Volunteer Fire Association agreed to include city departments. This means that MFD will receive the full amount of the levy from July 2025.
“This law doesn’t identify anyone,” Sikora said. “City residents pay fire taxes, so I think that’s why they should be able to take advantage of it. There’s state money going into fire protection. Why aren’t cities included in that?”
Additionally, the committee said all state transparency and regulatory requirements must be communicated to the 13 departments to finalize the subrecipient agreement.
“When you do business with the states and the feds, there are different terms and conditions, and what we are making sure is that we are held accountable by the state for our funds. So we’re making sure they’re held accountable,” Commissioner Tom Bloom said. “That’s a requirement. That’s why we have to do it that way.”
The Star City Volunteer Fire Department will receive an initial allocation of $21,366.04 after paying $19,000 upfront to replace the vehicle’s engine.
In other news from Wednesday’s meeting, Comcast awarded $15,000 grants to two nonprofit organizations through its Project UP initiative. This is a “$1 billion commitment to advance digital equity through programs and community partnerships that connect people, advance economic mobility, and open doors to the next world.” generation. ”
The Morgantown Area Partnership will use the funds to maintain and expand its resume bank and host resume writing classes and digital equity training.
West Virginia Women’s Work focuses grants on professional, career, and workplace development opportunities for women in skilled trades.
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