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| County Unexpectedly Hit With Nearly $4 Million Bill for IGT Matching Fund Reimbursement for Hospital 06/05/18 01:00pm By: Nick Altmire |
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review of Lewis County General Hospital's 2014 audit of Inter Government Transfer (IGT) funds, the State has retroactively raised the cap for funding from $2.1 million to $4.7 million for funding years 14/15, 15/16, and 16/17. IGT funds are monies made available to publicly owned hospitals to help bridge the gap in operating costs from Medicaid payments and providing services to those with no insurance. The annual State and Federal funding requires Lewis County to provide a match to any IGT funds allocated to Lewis County General Hospital. Lewis County Legislators had previously budgeted and paid a little over $1.8 in IGT payments to the hospital over the past three years in question, based on the old cap of $2.1 million. On May 22, the County received a letter from the State, notifying them of the cap increasing to $4.7 million, based on the review of the 2014 audit. The letter also notified the County that a $3.97 million IGT payment for the difference was due by June 26. The letter caught officials off guard, leaving a transfer from the County's fund balance as the only option for the unappropriated expense. The fund balance acts as the County's 'savings account', and currently holds just over $13 million in unappropriated funds. County officials generally try to keep the fund balance at a minimum of $11 million. After deducting the $3.97 million IGT payment, the fund balance will fall below $10 million. In addition to the retroactive payment, the $1.8 million budgeted for the 17/18 IGT payment will likely need to be nearly doubled based on the new cap. Those additional funds were unappropriated and would also require a transfer from the fund balance. Lewis County Manager Ryan Piche said that the County is still in good shape financially, but the additional expense may lead to the reevaluation of some capital projects. He pointed out that it's a good thing to see extra Federal and State funding come to Lewis County General, and the County's matching funds are put to good use and remain in the county. Mr. Piche noted that the increased IGT payment amount will also need to be incorporated into the 18/19 budget, when officials will have to make some tough decisions to come up with the over $1 million needed. We sat down with Mr. Piche yesterday to discuss the situation. Our full interview is included below. |
