Photo by Shelley Hanson Retiring board member Brenda Coffield wipes tears from her eyes with a tissue during Tuesday’s regular Marshall County Board of Education meeting while her fellow members thank her for her service and wish her well. Coffield served eight years on the board.

MOUNDSVILLE – A tax revenue issue at the state level will not result in cuts or layoffs in Marshall County Schools, officials said during Tuesday’s regular Board of Education meeting.

Board members also said goodbye to one of their own during the meeting.

During a recent Marshall County Commission meeting, concerns were raised with West Virginia State Tax Division officials over the county losing millions in anticipated tax revenue because of a clerical error at the state level.

The error was triggered by oil and gas company Expand Energy’s late filing of an amendment to its taxes. Officials said this was not the first time a state clerical error had cost the county money.

It was estimated the county commission would have to cut $1.5 million from its budget and the school board would be shorted $2.2 million in revenue.

Marshall County Schools Business Manager Patrick Massey told board members he received an updated figure of $2.8 million from state officials.

However, Treasurer Nan Hartley said that because of the school district’s contingency fund, it would be able to absorb the shortfall. Board member Lori Kestner also emphasized that during the meeting.

“We budgeted a contingency, an additional amount, because of this. I didn’t know about it but I am very conservative,” she said regarding the fiscal 2027 budget. “We try to put a substantial amount in there in case things like this come up. So we won’t be cutting any services and we won’t have to cut anyone’s budget. We have quite a big contingency. It’s about $25 million, but it’s not just for that. It’s for anything that comes up that they have budgeted for. So if something happens with construction or something like that, it’s in there.”

Hartley added the contingency funds are held in the West Virginia State Tax Office’s money market pool.

“It’s not just in the banks. It’s invested downstate. We had a big windfall a couple years ago and it’s pretty much stayed in there,” she said.

Meanwhile, board members also said their goodbyes to retiring member Brenda Coffield, who decided not to run for re-election after serving eight years on the board. Coffield was visibly moved by the comments made about her years of service. Before becoming a board member, she worked as a school secretary for many years.

The board presented Coffield with gifts, and cake and coffee were served after the meeting.