May 29, 2015

Commissioner Chambers

, 101 Radar Road, Tonopah, Nevada 89049 Lorinda Wichman, Chair Frank Carbone, Vice Chair Butch Borasky, Commissioner Dan Schinhofen, Commissioner Donna Cox, Commissioner Sandra L. Merlino, Ex-Officlo Clerk of the Board Angela Bello, District Attorney Pam Webster, County Manager Also present: Kelly Sidman, Deputy Clerk; Amy Fanning, Comptroller

Commissioner Borasky

asked if this would be a general improvement district (GID) or if it would stay a domestic non-profit.

Commissioner Wichman

said it would be set up as a district of its own but would be similar to a GID in the sense that the taxpayers who used the service would pay for it. Prior to the bankruptcy it was a privately held corporation but Nye County had a reversionary clause on the property and the equipment so when it went into bankruptcy it went back to the County. She was being told no, it was not a GID, but it was closer to a district than a privately held corporation. James Eason said Primecare signed an agreement during the bankruptcy hearing with Nye County to be the non-profit operator of the hospital. During the bankruptcy Nye County along with the creditors’ counsel and Round Mountain Gold used a portion of the old contract to establish their standing and put in a new board. That board was made up of appointments from Round Mountain Gold, the creditors and Nye County. That board then took on the role for the non-profit.

Commissioner Borasky

noted the Lyon County hospital district was a GID and he was just asking what kind of district this would be. Angela Bello explained there were various kinds of districts under NRS 450 which allowed for the creation of a hospital district, which was a certain type of district in and of itself.

Commissioner Borasky

asked if the district defaults if it would come back to Nye County taxpayers to pick up the mess and run with it.

Ms. Bello

said she understood the property was reverted to Nye County. The equipment that actually created a hospital would not be run by Nye County. An agreement would be entered into with Primecare to run and provide those services.

Mr. Eason

added the County owned all the assets, all the personal property and the building.

Commissioner Schinhofen

said there were two separate things here. Primecare, the non-profit, was currently operating it and today the Board was setting up a hospital district to help to fund that as agreed to in the bankruptcy proceedings. Going forward he would like to look more closely at how it would be operated. He said the thing that weighed heavily on the side of continuing to have something there was it was in the middle of the State, in the middle of the County, and the Board had to have something there for those citizens. May29, 2015 3. For Possible Action Discussion and deliberation to adopt, amend and adopt, or reject Nye County Resolution No. 2015-17: a Resolution creating the Northern Nye County Hospital District.-Cont’d.

Commissioner Schinhofen

made a motion to approve the hospital district in Nye County Resolution 201 5-17; seconded by Commissioner Borasky. Sam Merlino advised her office did not receive any objections.

Commissioner Wichman

confirmed for Commissioner Borasky that by creating the district it would be paid for solely by the residents north of Beatty.

Commissioner Carbone

was under the impression that this district already existed and the boundaries were just being changed.

Mr. Eason

stated in 1999 there was a sale to Primecare. The Board of County Commissioners transferred all the assets over to Primecare with the reversionary clause. The debt associated with the hospital at the time was still paid down through the district which sunsefted in 2008/2009. Through discussions with the Department of Taxation they understood that since that was kept in place to pay off the debt the district could be set up now.

Ms. Bello

advised it appeared that in 1999, based on AB275 which allowed for the dissolution of a hospital district, it was formally dissolved as a district. Maybe the tax rate stayed in place, but the district was dissolved.

Mrs. Webster

pointed out this was also a modified boundary to the original taxing district.

Commissioner Carbone

asked if the petition process had to be done again.

Mrs. Webster

stated the bankruptcy attorney said that was not necessary and the Board of County Commissioners could establish the district.

Mr. Eason

clarified that the attorney that represented Nye County in the bankruptcy was Nye County’s Attorney and hired by the District Attorney’s Office.

Mrs. Webster

confirmed the prior district was dissolved. An ordinance would have to come back, but by approving the district by resolution the Board would direct staff to bring back an ordinance and the tax rate would be established through the budget today.

Commissioner Wichman

said a district board would also be set up and she would like to see a five member board. May 29, 2015 3. For Possible Action Discussion and deliberation to adopt, amend and adopt, or reject Nye County Resolution No. 2015-17: a Resolution creating the Northern Nye County Hospital District.-Cont’d.

Commissioner Borasky

noted under NRS 450.710, creation of a district for sole purpose of contracting for services of hospital, (c) said the proposal was approved by a majority of votes cast on the issue by persons in the proposed district. He asked if this had to go back for a vote.

Ms. Bello

said she also had concerns with the reference in the plan reorganization documents as well as the loan documents to the establishment of the district under NRS 450.710. She called the bankruptcy counsel and was assured their intent by mentioning that NRS was not to require the cast of a vote. It could be done by resolution and motion. Robin Rivero addressed concerns raised by the Commissioners in the past regarding the liability for the rest of the County if the district defaulted by outlining the loss of revenue that would occur if travelers re-routed around Tonopah because of the lack of a hospital. She pointed out the potential loss of employers in the area resulting in the loss of jobs if there was no hospital. Ms. Rivero provided statistics showing the ad valorem property taxes from Pahrump only made up 49% of the total collected, but 83% of the population resided in Pahrump and demanded and received more services. She said the Town of Tonopah was giving up a good portion of its tax rate so it could go to the hospital taxing district because those town board members know the importance of a hospital to the security and safety of those living in the area as well as those traveling through. With the help of a taxing district and proper management Ms. Rivero did not think the hospital would fail, but felt if it did and the rest of the County ended up having to pay for it through a slight increase in property taxes than that was just Tonopah and the surrounding areas fair share of the ad valorem revenue. Amy Nelson stated her family had been in Tonopah since the early 1 980s and hospitals had come and gone. The hospital in Tonopah had been a failure and people were transported for serious treatment or trauma. Ms. Nelson did not understand why the $2 million fund was used to bail out this private corporation, which also happened to match the amount of money the budget was short. She would rather see the money spent somewhere else.

Commissioner Schinhofen

clarified that trying to link the general fund to the money that was loaned to this hospital was not right. Settlement funds were used for that and had nothing to do with the budget shortage. Also, the funds to run it would come out of the district, not from Pahrump. Richard Goldstein asked how much it would cost to operate the hospital per year and where it was going to come from. He had been told by some people who lived in the area that this was more of a medical clinic than a hospital. He did not doubt the need for a hospital, but a private corporation was running it and he did not know why they May29, 2015 3. For Possible Action Discussion and deliberation to adopt, amend and adopt! or reject Nye County Resolution No. 201 5-17: a Resolution creating the Northern Nye County Hospital District.-Cont’d. were not paying for it. Mr. Goldstein pointed out a private corporation ran the hospital in Pahrump and the County did not subsidize it.

Mrs. Webster

stated the plan of reorganization stipulated the hospital district would be set up for debt service on the loan that the County made for the acquisition of the hospital. The purpose of setting up the hospital district and the taxing area, which was strictly in the north, would be the basis of the debt service on that loan.

Ms. Bello

said the tax would serve as collateral. A security agreement would be entered into and the security interest in that agreement was the tax dollars. Should they fail to make the loan payments, the County could foreclose on the collateral, which was those tax dollars. She added Primecare was paying to operate the hospital. Dale Norton, Superintendent of the Nye County School District, said the School District was concerned about the ability to pay down debt service and the general obligation in the general fund if this proposal was followed, lithe School District had assurances that it would not lose any current funding they would be more comfortable with this. Mr. Norton expressed concern with not seeing the pro forma for property taxes to date, which would also have an impact on their budget.

Mrs. Webster

said the pro forma she had showed roughly $250,000.00 generated in revenue through the $0.20 tax rate, but that could be adjusted based on personal property taxes and abatements.

Commissioner Carbone

said he was under the impression this would come out of the taxes already being paid and the structure was just being changed.

Mrs. Webster

explained there were several taxing districts in the hospital district. Some of those were at the cap and had diverted $0.20 from what they were collecting to the hospital district. In some cases the tax rate did go up to accommodate the $0.20 because they were not at the cap.

Commissioner Wichman

stated taxes in Smoky Valley and Carvers would go up $0.20 per $1,000.00, which equaled about $30.00 a year. She was also under the impression the State would keep the School District whole and the Board’s action today would not impactthem.

Mrs. Webster

advised there would be a dollar impact to the School District but it would be outside of what the Board did today and they would be kept whole in their tax rate. Cameron McRae said he was testifying in opposition to this action based upon his personal experiences as a Commissioner and statements from the residents both north May29, 2015 3. For Possible Action Discussion and deliberation to adopt, amend and adopt, or reject Nye County Resolution No. 2015-1 7: a Resolution creatini the Northern Nye County Hospital District.-Cont’d. and south as well as the traveling public. He cautioned the Commissioners to look at the history and take it into due consideration otherwise they were doomed to repeat it. He recommended finding a new operator and reselling the facility using the similar criteria for reversion.

Ms. Bello

questioned if the tax would continue after the loan was paid back as she did not see anything in the plan reorganization document addressing that.

Mrs. Webster

stated the ordinance could be the document to sunset the rate at the completion or it could be reviewed at that point to determine alternative action. Vicky Walker described her experiences at the hospital and stressed the need for healthcare in the northern area. She said it was more than a bandaid station and was needed in the community. She hoped the Commissioners would find some way to keep it running. Horace Carlyle, speaking as an individual, thought the Commissioners should let the hospital die to force Nye County to pay down its liability. He had received a phone call from someone who told him to let it die and they would help set up a medical facility in the area. Laura Billman thought someone needed to call the Secretary of State’s Office to clarify who owned Primecare Nevada, the Commissioners or Dr. Vincent Scoccia. She noted that originally the number this hospital district would bring in was a lot more, but the last number she heard was $750,000 a year so that needed to be clarified. While the people up north were right in their testimony about the desperate need for medical care,

Mrs. Billman

asked the Commissioners if they were ready to risk all of the endowment funds on a hospital fund that had already failed in the past and risk having no medical care in Tonopah. She suggested considering using the existing building and the funding from the hospital district to entice a couple of doctors already in Nye Regional to open an urgent care clinic.

Commissioner Wichman

asked if the County would be on the hook to the creditors if the facility closed and Primecare went away.

Ms. Bello

stated she did not feel comfortable answering that as she had not analyzed all the documents, but she did not believe so.

Mrs. Webster

added it was her understanding that Primecare was responsible, but she was not an attorney to interpret a legal document. May 29, 2015 3. For Possible Action Discussion and deliberation to adopt, amend and adopt, or reject Nye County Resolution No. 2015-17: a Resolution creating the Northern Nye County Hospital District-Cont’d.

Commissioner Schinhofen

commented it kept coming back to who was going to run the facility. The motion and the second were to adopt the resolution, then come back with an ordinance and that was where the meat of this would be. The people up there needed some kind of medical care and while he was not convinced Primecare was the best thing, Commissioner Schinhofen stated there was a bankruptcy agreement the County had to abide by. He would like to move forward with this resolution as there would be time to look into how to better provide services to those people.

Mrs. Billman

said the essential point was to make sure that Tonopah and the surrounding areas had medical care but blowing through the endowment funds and propping up a failing hospital was not the way to do it.

Mr. Eason

explained one of the first things the new board talked about was how to do it right this time as this was the fourth time this hospital was in this trouble. Mr. Eason said he had been told by the State that if the building closed the hospital would never be able to reopen because of its present condition. There were a lot of people in the State of Nevada who wanted to come in and operate this facility but they would not be able to if it closed.

Mr. Eason

advised the money was used to pay the attorneys, the former creditors, and the emergency room doctor who came out of retirement and was working off of goodwill. Money had also gone to repairing equipment, the heating and cooling system, and technology, to keep the doors open and to meet the survey requirements to just have a licensed facility. It paid the various vendors, the insurance, and the specialists who helped with credentialing with the doctors, with the State of Nevada, and with the insurance companies. An auditor was brought in to make sure the County had its assets, and a critical access hospital application for a higher reimbursement through Medicare/Medicaid was submitted.

Mr. Eason

then addressed Mr. Norton’s concerns regarding the School District budget. He advised when they put together the taxing rate they were told there would be an impact to the School District, but they were also told that per NRS the difference would be made up by the State of Nevada. That impact was between $200,000.00 and $300,000.00, which was less than 1% of the School District’s $48 million budget which had a debt service of $81 million and an annualized payment of $8 million. Mr. Eason pointed out that the Town of Tonopah would take a 10% hit on its budget but was making the sacrifices because it knew this was important to its future and its community.

Dr. Lanning

Andrews, who came on board when the hospital went into bankruptcy, provided his background. Over the past year he had been able to recruit experienced physicians to staff the emergency room and the clinic, and the clinic was currently booked out two months. The emergency room saw between 10 and 20 patients a day May29, 2015 3. For Possible Action Discussion and deliberation to adopt, amend and adopt, or reject Nye County Resolution No. 201 5-17: a Resolution creating the Northern Nye County Hospital District.-Cont’d. that varied from toothaches to major car accidents. He said the hospital was critical for that “golden hour” not only for trauma but certain other medical conditions that needed to be stabilized quickly for transportation. That “golden hour” would be lost if the hospital closed. Dr. Andrews advised he had also set up telemedicine which allowed them to do more at the facility prior to transport. Dr. Andrews said he was a little bit put off by the statements of when it was going to fail rather than if it was going to fail. He pointed out this was a new generation of medicine and doctors, and there was telemedicine and all these other resources that would allow this hospital to succeed.

Commissioner Carbone

asked if St. Mary’s and Desert View had been looked at for people to run the hospital.

Mr. Eason

said they had met with Desert View, Renown, and St. Mary’s, and had reached out to Banner in Fallon and Boulder City, regarding the needed affiliation. Catherine Longhouser, a resident of Nye County for 37 years, said she watched the hospital districts close and knew a quick care facility would be Tonopah’s best option right now because their equipment was old. It would take millions of dollars to get a hospital up to date unless a company came in. She did not see a company taking over a hospital with no money and the County was being asked for money that it did not have.

Commissioner Wichman

said a district seemed logical to her since the County was holding the bag for $2.5 million on an asset that it could not sell and operate as a hospital unless it continued to operate without any interruption in service. The people who used this hospital were the ones who would pay for it, and then the money collected through the hospital district could be used to pay the debt. Whether that tax sunsetted when that $2.5 million was paid off or not, it could be put into the ordinance that it could be used to update that facility to keep it going. She also noted that the testimony about new methods of medicine made this whole thing a different critter than what it was in 1999 or 2006.

Commissioner Wichman

stated the situation was if the hospital closed for one day it would lose the certification. The County was broke and did not have the money to build a new facility to sell to someone to run it again. The providers there now offered a good service and were bringing care to the people and people were starting to go back to that hospital because they knew there was better care now. Commissioner Wichman stressed the need to maintain the certification and the licensing as there was no way to reconstruct.

Mrs. Longhouser

asked if the Board was also voting today to acquire the medical people to run it. May 29, 2015 3. For Possible Action Discussion and deliberation to adopt, amend and adopt, or reject Nye County Resolution No. 2015-17: a Resolution creating the Northern Nye County Hospital District.-Cont’d.

Commissioner Wichman

said it was simply a resolution stating the intent to bring back an ordinance to set up a hospital district. The Board took a short recess. Dwight Lilly thought the most logical decision was to let this die. He knew the folks in Tonopah needed some type of clinic but to him this would just be throwing good money after bad. Wayne Allen, the new CEO of Nye Regional Medical Center, said he was a hospital operator with over 40 years of experience. He explained this facility was going through a very major transformation. The model they were migrating to was more outpatient oriented, focusing on lab and radiology. They were trying to revamp the physical therapy and outpatient surgery as well as grow the family practice clinic. That would serve 90% to 95% of the healthcare needs of the district, but the inpatient component was still needed. They were averaging about five to six patients per month right now and would continue to carry a hospital license. Mt. Allen stated the other thing actively underway was discussions with Renown and St. Mary’s about a business affiliation which he hoped would occur. He pointed out a free standing facility of this size was a thing of the past and they needed to quickly get the business affiliation. In Mr. Allen’s opinion the discussion of a district was mandatory as the underlying tax support was needed with a small facility of this nature to support it and meet the debt liability. A business affiliation helped reduce that, but there would still be some shortage which could be handled through a district set up.

Commissioner Carbone

asked what the process would be to get the license back if the County closed it and relinquished the license.

Commissioner Wichman

pointed out there was a hospital and a clinic there.

Mr. Allen

said it would take almost three years to complete the process to bring in a new hospital. There was a process that the EMS Department had to follow to get Medicare and Medicaid provider numbers, which was a 12 to 18 month process, and construction would take at least 12 to 18 months. With the market in the area Mr. Allen said he would be surprised if it could support a new structure with the debt and capital infusion necessary to obtain all of that because right now the small volume did not support the current operation. He also explained Primecare was, by the IRS Code, a 501(c)(3) corporation, a not-for-profit corporation, not a private corporation. The owners were the community and any assets remaining would remain with the community if it failed. May29, 2015 3. For Possible Action Discussion and deliberation to adopt, amend and adopt. or reject Nye County Resolution No. 2015-17: a Resolution creatini the Northern Nye County Hospital District.-Cont’d.

Commissioner Cox

said the main question was if this hospital district failed if this would fall back on the taxpayers of the entire County.

Mrs. Webster

stated if the taxing district failed it did not automatically revert to anything. The Board was setting up a tax rate for a taxing district defined by boundaries and limited to the boundaries of that district unless there was some other Board action taken. What was being addressed today was confined to the areas within that taxing district.

Commissioner Wichman

said during the break she was able to get word from the former District Attorney that helped set this up. If this taxing district failed and the hospital failed, because of the agreements with the bankruptcy court the taxpayers of all of Nye County would be required to not only suffer the debt of $2.5 million but would also have to figure out how to pay the creditors of the hospital that went to bankruptcy because the County was the backstop for those creditors, and that would be several million dollars.

Mr. Eason

clarified the total bill was $5.6 million and that included paying the creditors, the attorneys, and everyone else during that process.

Commissioner Cox

said she would prefer to see a private company come in and open an urgent care rather than putting it on the backs of the taxpayers. She asked if the town board had considered this yet.

Commissioner Wichman

stated all the towns involved had been consulted with and had agreed to do what was necessary to allow this to happen.

Mr. Eason

advised the Tonopah Town Board had not officially made a motion to approve this because they were waiting for the County Commission to create it. He indicated the Tonopah Town Board was willing to give up the $0.20, which equated to $88,000.00 for the Town of Tonopah which operated on a budget of $850,000.00 a year.

Commissioner Cox

thought this needed to be dragged out long enough until a private company could come in. She was against it, but could not leave the people there without healthcare.

Commissioner Schinhofen

said moving forward they needed to learn from the past so when this did come back he suggested setting themselves as the board of the hospital district so there would be better monthly reporting to them. May29, 2015 3. For Possible Action Discussion and deliberation to adopt, amend and adopt, or reject Nye County Resolution No. 2015-17: a Resolution creating the Northern Nye County Hospital District.-Cont’d.

Commissioner Borasky

believed they should move forward with the ordinance, but did not want to make the same mistakes made in the past. He said he had two pages of notes that he would be talking to people about. His second of the motion stood. The motion to approve the hospital district in Nye County Resolution 2015-17 passed with 5 yeas.

Commissioner Schinhofen

stated this was a longstanding lease to be renewed by November. The leaseholder had agreed to an increase of five cents to $0.85 and had asked to extend the subleasing also. The group Dr. Bady subleased this to was looking at building a new building, but they planned to continue to use this building.

Commissioner Schinhofen

made a motion to approve; seconded by Commissioner Borasky.

Commissioner Borasky

said the taxpayers had been on top of him about giving rental rates that were out of proportion. He read a letter regarding current commercial leasing rates in Pahrump relative to the Pahrump Medical Center. The recession which began around 2008 had slowed the influx of new business into Pahrump and had created a surplus of rental facilities resulting in a downward adjustment of rental rates. The current rates ranged from $0.69 a square foot to $1.65 a square foot depending on location and tenant improvements. With the current commercial market beginning to pick up the Pahrump Medical Center should be $0.95 to $1.05. Commissioner Borasky knew he seconded the motion but it would be his preference to look at the higher rate rather than the lower rate as the economy was getting better and the available space was starting to dry up. The key was tenant improvements were already there and he would not be in favor of anything under $1.00.

Commissioner Schinhofen

said if Commissioner Borasky would remove his second he would amend his motion to increase it to $0.90 a square foot, keeping in mind if it went out to bid instead he did not know how many other providers of that size would bid on it. He asked Dr. Bady if that was affordable.

Dr. Benjamin

Bady stated he could not do more than that and noted the building was falling apart. If tenant improvements were part of the discussion, he pointed out they had already put in a significant amount of money and had planned to put in more. He believed $0.85 would be a fair deal because of the amount of upgrades required to run May 29, 2015 5. For Possible Action Discussion and deliberation to approve amending Medical Systems Management lease agreement for Pahrump Medical Center (PMC) to allow contract extension and modify billing rate.-Cont’d. the 16,000 square foot facility. Dr. Bady said usually when facilities were large in size they dropped in rent, especially when they had not had any upgrades in ten years.

Commissioner Schinhofen

made a motion to approve $0.90 a square foot and extend the sublease as requested.

Commissioner Borasky

asked the Board to allow Commissioner Carbone and himself to sit down in negotiations with Healthcare Partners and discuss the tenant improvements and their concerns with the building.

Commissioner Schinhofen

stated that was outside the scope of the Board’s authority and suggested going out to bid.

Commissioner Carbone

clarified that Commissioner Borasky wanted to sit down with Dr. Bady to see if $0.90 was justified or if $0.85 was justified, not to negotiate.

Commissioner Wichman

stated if there was no reason to have this voted on today it could be put off to the next meeting. Staff was instructed to put this item on the agenda for the second meeting in July. 4. For Possible Action Discussion and deliberation to adopt, amend and adopt, or reject the Final Budget for Fiscal Year 2015-16. Pam Webster recapped the prior discussions regarding the $1.4 million needed to balance the budget for FY76 and the two opportunities that had not been completed. Yesterday afternoon she heard from sources for both of those opportunities. Round Mountain Gold Corporation issued a check for $3.5 million and hand-carried it to the Department of Taxation yesterday and would issue a check for the balance shortly. The State was expected to distribute it in days and that would allow the County to balance its budget for FY16.

Commissioner Wichman

pointed out that Round Mountain Gold chose to take this path and not appeal simply for the sake of the County.

Mrs. Webster

stated the second piece that was in the works did not materialize and would not be an opportunity for the County. She explained the windfall from Round Mountain Gold was the result of an audit from FY10 and FY11 and was a one-time payment. The County did have a balanced budget for FY16, but it would not sustain because it was a one-time payment. The reductions that were being looked at would May 29, 2015 4. For Possible Action Discussion and deliberation to adopt! amend and adopt, or reject the Final Budget for Fiscal Year 201 5-1 6-Cont’d. not be necessary at this time, but Mrs. Webster felt some current practices needed to be incorporated and sustained through FYI 6, such as rehiring reviews and the reduction of the budget when positions were vacated for a period of time and then refilled at a lower level. By approving the budget the Commissioners would approve the continuation of those practices as they were incorporated in it.

Mrs. Webster

then explained how they looked at FY13 and FYI 4 to see the result of delaying filling positions by 90 days. One year had a savings of over $650,000.00 and the other had a savings of over $550,000.00. She said that was also something she would like to see put into practice. It was not reflected in the budget, but it was a procedural practice that could be established with the Board’s approval.

Mrs. Webster

also wanted to see, in preparation of getting to a sustained budgetary level, formal justification for positions that became vacant throughout the year. Her recommendation at this point was not to do an across the board percentage reduction because it was not warranted with a balanced budget, but she said position requirements needed to be looked at as they became vacant.

Commissioner Carbone

asked if the Board would be able to see those quarterly. Mrs. Webster indicated she would bring quarterly reductions identified that the department heads would agree to, but felt position justifications needed to be looked at as well and she would keep those separate until the position justification moved into a budgetary adjustment. Additionally, Mrs. Webster said in FY17 there may be issues with PILT, which was a major piece of the revenue budget, so there was still a long way to go to a sustainable budget. She recommended approving the budget as presented with the caveat to continue with either a 90-day or 60-day extension of time for filling positions with a detailed justification of the position.

Commissioner Carbone

made a motion to approve to accept the budget as described as well as the activities Mrs. Webster discussed; seconded by Commissioner Schinhofen.

Commissioner Schinhofen

said he would prefer the 60 days rather than the 90 days.

Mrs. Webster

thought the 60 days was fine from the standpoint that the 60 days would not start until any accrued payouts had already been met and that could take it to 90 days easily.

Commissioner Carbone

wanted to stick with the 90 days. May29, 2015 4. For Possible Action Discussion and deliberation to adopt, amend and adopt, or reject the Final Budget for Fiscal Year 201 5-1 6.-Cont’d.

Commissioner Schinhofen

asked if the motion included acceptance of all the other budgets listed in the back-up.

Commissioner Carbone

restated his motion to accept the budget as described by the County Manager with the activities she described, including the 90-day delay, for all Nye County activity with the exception of Pahrump; seconded by Commissioner Schinhofen. In response to several questions from Commissioner Cox, Mrs. Webster advised the budget reductions the Board did on March 3, 2015, were included and sustained in the budget. There was a modified ordinance regarding the animal shelter in the District Attorney’s Office for review and since the 4-H program was funded through the ag tax the County had no control over how that money was disbursed to their programs. Regarding the veterans, Mrs. Webster said that was in the budget as a separate department but it was like every other department in the general fund. They were allotted $65,000.00 based on a resolution and if it was not used it went to the ending fund balance. It did not stay in an account on a growing balance basis. As far as Senior Nutrition, Mrs. Webster stated the County was still sponsoring grants for them. There was just no longer a subsidy from the County.

Commissioner Borasky

asked for an agenda item on the second meeting of July to talk more about the veterans fund, what the intent of it was, what the money could be spent for, and even possibly directing it to an end product like another veterans organization because not much was being taken out of it. It was his understanding the ladies at the brothels wanted to help the veterans and the money was to be dedicated directly to them, not rolled over into the budget if it was not used.

Commissioner Carbone

asked if this budget included the 10% pay reduction that some had already agreed to do as some people wanted to know if they really had to give it up.

Mrs. Webster

advised it was not taken out of the budget at this time but people could still voluntarily do it.

Commissioner Schinhofen

asked who responded to the 10% pay reduction. Mrs. Webster said all of the Commissioners with the exception of Commissioner Cox.

Commissioner Carbone

stated he was keeping his pledge. Bobby Edwards, a member of the board of directors of the Pahrump Valley Museum and Historical Society, addressed the allocation of museum funds between the Central Nevada Museum in Tonopah and his museum. The property tax funds collected were split 50/50 between the two museums. Mr. Edwards advised they learned the unused funds were lumped together and split 50/50 again instead of the individual museums May29, 2015 4. For Possible Action Discussion and deliberation to adopt, amend and adopt. or reject the Final Budget for Fiscal Year 2015-16.-Cont’d. receiving those funds. The Pahrump Museum lost approximately $21,000.00 in FY14 they thought belonged directly to them that was distributed to the Tonopah Museum.

Mrs. Webster

explained the museum fund was a special revenue fund and said Mr. Edwards was correct. The former comptroller was not keeping track of the carryover by the split. She said she had made it known that that practice was no longer being done and this budget reflected the carryover would be maintained by the entity that had it. Richard Goldstein asked how much the County’s portion of the Round Mountain Gold settlement was.

Mrs. Webster

said $1.3 million was conservatively budgeted.

Mr. Goldstein

thanked the Commission and Mrs. Webster for leaving the veterans services alone. This past week he got a call from the owner of the Chicken Ranch who was very concerned with the money that went into veterans services and was not aware that at the end of the year the money that was not spent went back into the budget. Dwight Lilly said he had noticed twice in the last year millions of dollars was taken from the endowment fund and placed in the general fund, but he never saw an agenda item on it and never saw the declaration by the Commissioners as to what the emergency was. He asked Mrs. Webster who gave permission to move the money from the emergency fund into the general fund and had the money been returned to the emergency fund in the FY16 budget.

Mrs. Webster

explained the money was moved to covet cash flow, not to covet an expenditure budget. There were several resources of cash that came in at the end of the year like PILl and net proceeds and there was a two to three month lag with CTAX. All of that impacted cash flow. The expenditure budget could be met but there could still be cash flow issues through the year so it was loaned from the endowment fund and paid back as soon as those payments came in. The Board gave her the authority to do that as needed through the year.

Commissioner Cox

asked since it looked so good and was doing so well now if there was a possibility of reducing the rate somewhat. Mr. Sullivan said no because of the tax abatement. Taxes could not be raised more than 3% in any one year and the town was not allowed to receive any more money beyond that 3% increase.

Commissioner Schinhofen

said he was always told the ambulance service made the County money, but this budget showed it $388,000.00 in the hole. He asked if that was right. Mr. Sullivan explained that was the best estimate based on ten years of history of receivables.

Commissioner Schinhofen

stated he would like to see a comparison of what this was compared to privatizing the ambulance service.

Commissioner Carbone

asked if the ambulance rates were being looked at. Mr. Sullivan explained there was a limit on the reimbursement rates by Medicare/Medicaid as well as the insurance companies. Even if the rates were raised to $1,000.00 a trip only a 40% to 60% reimbursement would be received because that was the rate they paid.

Mrs. Webster

advised that different avenues of resource revenues were being looked at without increasing rates, like maybe charging for some of the things that were not charged for in the past. She then pointed out the District Attorney had brought to her attention that the Commissioners were not sitting as the Pahrump board. The Board of County Commissioners recessed to the Pah rump Town Board.

Commissioner Schinhofen

made a motion to approve the Pahrump and Pahrump Pool District budgets; seconded by Commissioner Carbone; 5 yeas. The Pahrump Town Board recessed to the Board of County Commissiones.

Commissioner Wichman

adjourned the meeting. APPROVED this y/1, day ATTEST: Of ,2015. / /i/J s/Oh r Nye County Clerk I Deputy