From the W.Va. Governor’s Office:
CHARLESTON, W.Va. – Gov. Jim Justice announced today, Monday, Nov. 26, that he is implementing a new set of procedures and guidelines for all state agencies that wish to use the state’s $25 million line of credit for large expenditures.
A line of credit was established by the state in 1992 to give state agencies the ability to finance large purchases over time. The current credit line is financed by Bank of America and has an average interest rate of 1.68%.
“We want to ensure that any use of our credit line is done in a careful and transparent fashion,” said Gov. Justice. “We recently discovered that there hasn’t been any review or approval procedures for agencies to use the credit line. All future requests will be reviewed and approved only when they are fiscally responsible.”
Since 1992, the line of credit has been used primarily to purchase vehicles by the Fleet Management Office. The current balance is approximately $21 million, of which $17.6 million is from fleet purchases.
In recent years, state colleges and universities have also used the line of credit for purchases including:
- Between 2017 and 2018, Fairmont State University used it to spend approximately $700,000 to purchase two airplanes and a flight simulator for its aviation program.
- In 2017, Marshall University used the credit line to spend approximately $411,000 to resurface a softball field.
- In 2014, Marshall University used the credit line to spend approximately $830,000 on a synthetic turf for its football field.
- In 2013, Shepherd University used the credit line to spend approximately $1 million on a soccer field.