HEALTH CARE CENTER QUESTIONED
Friday, August 15th, 2008 -- 2:05 PM
Even with the added revenue from the half-percent sales tax, the Clark County Board will likely have to make some cuts in coming years.At a meeting Wednesday, board supervisor Vic Gray of the Greenwood area said the Clark County Health Care Center should be looked at closely.
"There are people up in the nursing home with dementia that, what would they do without funding from taxpayers," Gray reasoned, "But, really what disturbs me is this: the funding shortfall that's passed on to the taxpayers is about $47 a day per patient."
Gray said he didn't mind county residents paying to care for county residents, but he noted there are currently around 40 residents from other counties.
"Why have we not billed those counties for that share? I don't understand that. If Marathon county sends six or seven or ten or whatever, why aren't they paying their share?"
"I don't have a problem paying for our county people."
According to county records, the Clark County Health Care Center in Owen has a $16.5-million budget. Around $1.5-million comes from the local tax levy. The county's overall tax levy is around $11.7-million.
The Center used around $1.1-million in fund balances last year to balance the budget. They could run out of fund balances in the next couple years.
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