New Floyd County hospital board sets hearing on first tax asking

By Bob Steenson, bsteenson@charlescitypress.com

The Floyd County Medical Center board of trustees on Monday evening began the process to do something that voters last fall had agreed was necessary — levying a tax to help support the hospital.

The medical center board set a public hearing for 5:30 p.m. Monday, Feb. 17, in the conference room at the medical center, to receive public comments and answer questions about the plan to levy almost $500,000 in property taxes for the fiscal year beginning July 1.

Voters had essentially approved the action in advance in the election last November, when they agreed by more than a 2-to-1 margin to change the organizational status of the county hospital to one that could specifically collect taxes.

The hospital administration and the former board of directors had asked for the change because of increasing financial challenges they said were due mostly to reductions in state Medicaid reimbursements since the state privatized that service.

They pointed to figures that showed Medicaid reimbursements had dropped by $742,000 from one year to the next, along with reductions in insurance reimbursements by Blue Cross/Blue Shield.

They had told voters they would collect $500,000 in taxes this next fiscal year, and that’s what they started Monday — almost.

The actual amount being asked for is $484,903.

Michael Anderson, the medical center’s new chief financial officer, explained that Iowa law requires part of the support to come through a state utility tax replacement excise tax, based on a new way to tax gas and electric utilities in the state.

That utility excise tax, based on the state formula, will contribute $15,097 of the total $500,000 being requested by the hospital board.

The maximum amount the hospital can collect for its general fund, based on the total county taxable property valuation, is $244,416. An additional $240,487 will be levied to help pay FICA taxes for hospital employees.

Anderson explained that there are 10 categories for which the hospital could collect taxes. General fund and FICA are the first two. Also included are unemployment compensation, debt service, insurance costs, and others.

Hospital board Chairman Ron James said that by using the various categories, the hospital could levy much more than $500,000, but the board had committed to voters that it wouldn’t ask for more than $500,000 this year.

Also at the board of trustees meeting Monday, medical center Administrator Rod Nordeng reminded board members that their seats will all be up for election in November because of the change in organization classification.

Seven seats will be available, and the top seven vote-getters will be elected. There will be at least one opening on the board, as member Myrna Jakoubek has announced she will not seek re-election.

Nordeng said that at the first meeting of the newly elected board, names will be drawn and four of the trustees will serve for an initial two-year term and three will serve for a full four-year term, so that in future years about half the board seats will be open during each election.

The nomination period to file for county elected offices in the Nov. 3 election with the County Auditor’s Office is March 2 to 20.