Budget amendments approved

While budget amendments are often a regular part of the Sweetwater County Board of County Commissioner’s meetings as adjustments are made at the end of the fiscal year, the latest budget amendments dealt with unique situations for Memorial Hospital of Sweetwater County and the Road and Bridge Department.

At their last meeting, postponed from Tuesday, April 4 to Thursday, April 6 due to the winter storm at the beginning of last week, the commissioners approved budget amendments of $3 million for Sweetwater Memorial and $240,000 for the Road and Bridge Department.

The $3 million for the hospital was an amount already designated by the previous commission to go toward a laboratory expansion and renovation project. In July of last year, hospital leadership approached the commissioners about providing matching funds to go with funding they were seeking from the Wyoming State Loan and Investment Board (SLIB). The commissioners voted to earmark $3 million out of county reserves to go toward these matching funds. In January, hospital leadership spoke to the commissioners again to explain they would like to focus solely on the lab expansion project and not move forward with a second renovation project they had previous planned on. The commissioners agreed to let the allocated $3 million go toward just the one project.

At last week’s meeting, Sweetwater County Accounting Manager Bonnie Berry explained that the $3 million need to be treated as a budget amendment, moving the funds from the county’s general reserve to the hospital’s general fund, since the decision to give the money was made after the budget was approved last year.

The question that arose during discussion of the budget amendment was whether the money needed to be given to the hospital all at once.

“It seems odd to me when we’re looking at a two-year project that we would just essentially hand over a full $3 million, one-lump sum when we could invest that money and earn interest on it here,” Commission Chairman Keaton West said.

West pointed out that state funding from SLIB is usually given through a reimbursement process, so he would prefer the county be able to keep the money and to have the hospital voucher against it throughout the project.

“I fully support our commitment to the hospital,” West said. “I support the amendment but I do not support just issuing the check in its full amount.”

Commissioner Lauren Schoenfeld agreed with West. As one of the commissioners who approved the $3 million last year, she said she didn’t know that there was ever the intent to just write a check for the funds. She also pointed out that the county requires other entities to voucher against funds offered to them annually.

“I think we do owe it to the taxpayers and I think we owe it on our end to ensure that that money is going where it’s supposed to be and being utilized for what we approved it for,” Schoenfeld said.

Irene Richardson, the CEO of Sweetwater Memorial, addressed the commissioners to explain why hospital leadership had thought it would be beneficial to get the funds up front. She explained that the lab renovation project has already had about $250,000 expended, and as construction gets underway there will be larger expenditures, especially starting in July. Having the funds up front would allow the hospital to cover expenses as they come without having to worry about dipping into their reserves and affecting their cash on hand. Richardson explained the hospital is required to maintain at least 65 days of cash on hand, one day of which is about $285,000. Richardson also said she just wanted to explain their reasoning, but understood the commission’s position and would be fine with using a vouchering process.

Schoenfeld noted if any problems with vouchering come up, the situation could be re-evaluated to make sure the hospital is reimbursed in a timely manner.

The commissioners unanimously approved the $3 million budget amendment for the hospital with the stipulation that the county will maintain the funds and the hospital will voucher for expenses throughout the construction process.

The commissioners also unanimously approved a $240,000 budget amendment for the Road and Bridge Department, moving the funds from the county reserves to the Road and Bridge operating budget.

“This is due to increased funding needed for rentals and also for fuel,” Berry explained to the commissioners about the budget amendment.

Chairman West noted that Public Works Director Gene Legerski had emailed the commissioners with more details on why the funds were needed due to this year’s weather.

“Pretty enlightening to see that we’re spending $55,000 a month on fuel to keep the county plowed out,” West said. “Tough times this winter.”