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(TC GORDON | THE GRAHAM LEADER) Graham Regional Medical Center CEO Shane Kernell (left) speaks to the board during a recent meeting Wednesday, Sept. 25. The GRMC board approved the tax rate and budget for fiscal year 2025, as well as a three-year capital expenditure plan.
With the new fiscal year set to start soon, the Graham Regional Medical Center Board of Trustees recently adopted a budget and tax rate for the coming year.
Following a public hearing at their monthly meeting Wednesday, Sept. 25, the board adopted the tax rate of $0.272984 per $100 valuation, which is the same rate as last year. To go along with the tax rate, the FY 2025 budget was adopted as well.
The approved tax rate comes in under the voter approval rate of $0.287346 per $100 valuation, which is the highest tax rate GRMC may adopt without holding an election to seek voter approval of the rate.
The no-new-revenue rate for GRMC is $0.265039 per $100 valuation. The no-new-revenue rate is the tax rate for the 2024 year that will raise the same amount of property tax revenue for GRMC from the same properties in both the 2023 and 2024 tax years.
The total tax levy on all properties increased 5.09% from $3,758,234 in 2023 to $3,949,792 in 2024.
The average homestead taxable value in the Graham Hospital District increased by 8.63% from $138,247 in 2023 to $150,182 in 2024. Taxes on the average homestead will increase from $377 in 2023 to $410 in 2024.
“With the state they go back by how much revenue you produced instead of how much the rate changes. Back in the day, ...that was the measuring tape is, did your rate go up X percentage, or did it stay the same?” GRMC CEO Shane Kernell said. “If it stayed the same, they considered that no new taxes. Well, not really fair if your valuations go up, because that drives a part of your tax too. So anyway, recommendation from administration is to leave the rate the same. We've got some challenges coming up this year.”
Three of those challenges that Kernell shared include inflation, particularly with regards to drugs, supplies and labor, payments the hospital needs to make as part of an uncompensated care payback plan through Texas Health and Human Services which wasn’t something GRMC was responsible for and a new ambulance.
In addition to some of these major expenses, GRMC also has multiple capital expenditures planned for the coming fiscal year, which were approved in this meeting as part of the Three-Year Capital Spending Plan.
In net revenue, GRMC is projecting to end FY 2024 with $22,754,332 and has budgeted a net revenue of $25,357,055 for FY 2025.
Projections increased for FY 2025 for multiple patient revenue services. GRMC is budgeting for an increase in outpatient visits from 42,857 in FY 2024 to 48,228 in FY 2025, a 12.5% change. The hospital also projects a 32.9% increase in total surgeries, from 1,339 in 2024 to 1,778 in 2025.
Overall, GRMC is budgeting a 20% increase in medical admissions and a 125% increase in swing bed admissions since that was a new program introduced in this past fiscal year. Another newer treatment option is the pain procedures the hospital offers, which is expected to have an increase of 60%.
Three-Year Capital Budget
GRMC proposed and approved a three-year capital budget for FY 2025 through FY 2027. The main purpose of this budget is to list equipment that each department will need fixed or replaced during the next three fiscal years.
In FY 2025, GRMC has budgeted $1,506,888 for improving outdated equipment and supplying new equipment where needed.
The biggest need in the budget will be replacement of a unit and room construction in the radiology/diagnostic department for which is estimated at $700,000. Other budgetary items of note for this year include the replacement of patient monitoring systems in various departments for amounts of $130,000 to $135,000 each, and the resurfacing and repair of the fitness center pool for $100,000.
In FY 2026, the budget is $4.28 million with the highest cost project involving the replacement of the MRI unit in the radiology department and room construction for $1.6 million. GRMC will also look to expand clinic space with a project that is estimated to cost $1.25 million.
In FY 2027, the budget is $2.135 million and the largest project will be updates in the IT department for upgrading E.H.R. to MediTech Expanse.
Over the next three fiscal years, the board has budgeted for an average annual spending amount of $2,640,629 on capital expenditures.
