Council approves pension closures, fire service charge increase and other items; multiple votes passed unanimously

Morgantown City Council on Jan. 7 approved multiple ordinances and resolutions related to pension funding, fire service charges, property sales and demolition contracts, recording unanimous roll-call votes on all final actions.

The council voted on second readings to close the city's legacy police and fire pension plans to new entrants and to enroll future hires in the Municipal Police Officers and Firefighters Retirement System under the state's Option 2 financing method. John Ferguson, the city's finance director, described the package as a compromise reached after actuarial work by Bolton Retirement to secure benefits and reduce long-term fiscal strain. "They have presented in the end what we are referring to as the compromise plan," Ferguson said. He told council the police plan was about 21.3% funded with roughly $65.7 million unfunded as of the July 1, 2023 valuation.

Council also adopted an ordinance to increase the city's fire protection service charges by a one-time 15% adjustment. Staff said the increase is intended primarily to support the fire pension transition to the state program and secondarily to address rising operational costs including anticipated changes in holiday or…