Hospital board adopts 2013 tax rate, budget, considers uses for old hospital Debbie Kistler The Junction Eagle When the Kimble County Hospital District (KCHD) Board held its monthly meeting on August 29, a 2013 tax rate of 0.3782 cents per $100.00 of property valuation was adopted by the board by a vote of six (Bobby Chenault, Marshall Heap, James Murr, Claudette Primeaux, Bill Simon, and Trey Sullivan) to one (Molly Robinson). This is an increase of 0.0727 cents compared to the 2012 rate of 0.3055. The tax revenue from this increase will be used for payments on the bond debt incurred for construction of the county’s new hospital and clinic, opened in 2011. (The board provided a full explanation of the rationale used to establish the 2013 tax rate in an article entitled “Hospital District presents tax rate deliberations”, which appeared in the July 31 edition of The Junction Eagle.) The total rate is made up of a Maintenance and Operations (M&O) rate of 0.2300 and an Interest and Sinking Fund (I&S) rate of 0.1482. M&O taxes are used to operate the hospital/clinic and to pay for other district expenses. I&S taxes may be used only to pay down debt incurred for construction of the new hospital and clinic. The district’s fiscal year 2014 budget (October 1, 2013 through September 30, 2014) was passed by unanimous vote. The budget – $937,419 – is the same amount as the current year budget. Hospital administrator Steve Bowen reported on operations of the hospital and clinic during the past month by Preferred Leasing Junction. In addition to the number of patients seen and procedures (e.g., lab tests) performed, he reported on a variety of matters, including the payor mix of patients (e.g., Medicare, Medicaid, self-pay), wait times in the emergency room, transfers to other hospitals, charges for indigent and charitable care, and bad debt write-offs, which totaled $191,972.40 in July. According to Bowen, Preferred continues to operate the hospital and clinic in the red at this time. Bowen presented a check for $250,000 to the board. This money resulted from a “further review” of a “Cost Report” by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). CMS determined this money was due to the district. In accordance with the policy established by the current and prior KCHD boards, this type of reimbursement (for depreciation and interest paid on bond debt) will be dedicated to future payments on the district’s debt. The board was reminded that the district should be prepared for CMS to declare that KCHD owes money at some point in the future. Board treasurer, Trey Sullivan, provided an update on the positive financial condition of the district’s O&M and I&S funds. Sullivan reported further that a land survey of the district’s property has determined that the ownership of a small portion of the property is in question. The board will be seeking to clarify and settle this ownership question during the coming months. During the past month, the board solicited public opinion for suggestions on what to do with the district’s old clinic and hospital buildings. Board member Robinson reported that seventeen people responded and none wanted buildings torn down. Suggestions for repurposing the old hospital building included: use as a museum, a Meals on Wheels facility, a nursing home annex, or a YMCA-like center for after-school activities. Other suggestions included selling it for use as retail or office space. Many of the same suggestions were received for use of the old clinic building. Demolition of the old facilities was not favored. Robinson made a strong pitch for use of the facilities as a museum. She, with the board’s concurrence, will contact the Kimble County Historical Commission to let members know of the board’s willingness to consider such a use. Preferred is currently seeking an exemption from the Kimble Central Appraisal District (KCAD) so it will no longer have to pay property taxes on the facilities it leases from the KCHD. Whether or not this exemption will be granted cannot be known at this time. The board asked Mike Easley, Vice President for Hospital Operations for Preferred, if some of the savings from such an exemption would be shared with the district. He replied that all the savings would be needed to continue operation of the hospital and the clinic. The board will be holding a strategic planning session in September and a fuller briefing on the financing of the hospital and clinic operations will be given by Preferred’s Chief Executive Officer. The board accepted bids for two modular buildings currently located on district property: $10,200 from Pamela Evans for the “Therapy” building and $10,000 from Vanguard Modular Building Systems for the “Heritage” building. The buildings will be moved from the district’s property. The board voted six to one (Robinson) to not reimburse $25,000 to the Kimble County Emergency Services District (KCESD) for funds it provided to the hospital district in 2001 to assist with the purchase of an x-ray machine. The KCESD did not provide any documentation to demonstrate that these funds were a loan (requiring repayment) instead of a grant (gift). This lack of documentation was the basis of the “no” vote. Upon the presentation of proper documentation, the board could reconsider the emergency district’s request. The board approved unanimously the expenditure of up to $5,000 to make urgent and temporary repairs to the driveway and parking area in the vicinity of the old hospital building. The repairs are needed to prevent further soil erosion and to ensure that a safety hazard does not develop until more permanent repairs can be made. KCHD meetings are held on the fourth Monday of each month beginning at 6 p.m. and are open to the public.
Posted on: Thu, 05 Sep 2013 14:37:07 +0000