GRMC to propose effective rate in September

Graham Regional Medical Center CEO Shane Kernell said he will recommend to the board the adoption of the effective tax rate for the next tax year which will lower the rate by $0.0045 per $100 valuation.

After proposing a tax rate just under the rollback rate last year, the board adopted the effective rate of $0.399657 when they were met with significant pushback from the community. This year’s rollback rate is set at $0.426822 and the effective rate is set at $0.395206.

The effective rate is the total tax rate needed to raise the same amount of property tax revenue from the same properties in both the 2018 and 2019 tax year. The rollback tax rate is the highest tax rate the hospital may adopt before voters can petition for an election to limit the rate to the rollback rate.

This year’s effective rate if adopted will produce $85,530 more in tax revenue for GRMC. This is due to the total tax base rising from $817,413,542 to $826,992,489 for the upcoming tax year.

The Graham Regional Medical Center Board of Directors usually meet at noon the third Tuesday of each month in GRMC’s conference room.

Financials

GRMC CFO Jeff Casbeer gave the financial statement for the month of July. Casbeer said the hospital had an operating income of $44,000 compared to a $357,000 loss for the previous month. He said the hospital had a net income of $344,000.

“The caveat to that is we had a $478,000 payment for DSRIP (delivery system reform incentive payment) and that was the net amount that went straight to income,” the CFO said. “(…) We sent up $338,000, they sent us back $827,000. That’s the net $478,000 I’m talking about.”

He said the hospital has received its $340,000 loan from Graham Savings and Loan for the echocardiogram and nuclear medicine machines. The loan was approved by the board in April.

For the rest of the story, see the Saturday, Aug. 24 edition of The Graham Leader.