Saturday, March 1, 2008

Commission: Hospital fund should be in own account

Julia M. Dendinger News-Bulletin Staff Writer; jdendinger@news-bulletin.com

There's an iconic commercial where the question asked is "Where's the beef?" Valencia County Commission-ers had similar concerns at a mid-year budget review on Tuesday. While they aren't concerned about hamburgers they did want to know "Where's the money?"

In reviewing the county's actual and anticipated tax revenues for the 2007-08 fiscal year, Commissioner Ron Gentry asked how much had been collected on the mill levy for the county hospital.

County Finance Director Wilma Abril said that as of Dec. 31, 2007, the county treasurer's office has collected $1,424,654 in funds that are earmarked for a hospital.

"And where is that money?" Gentry asked. Abril said it was in the county's account with Bank of the West.

"So we can just go to the bank and ask for our money?" he asked. Abril replied yes, they could. She went on to say that, according to the treasurer's report, there was $12,967,620 in the account and the $1.4 million for the hospital was part of that total.

Gentry expressed concern about that. "That doesn't make sense to me," he said. "If an auditor comes in and wants to know where that money is, do we just say it's in the Bank of the West?"

Commissioner Georgia Otero-Kirkham pointed out that the money for the hospital was separated by the county for accounting purposes but the money itself was part of the general fund in the bank account.

"So everything is just thrown into one big pool at Bank of the West?" Gentry asked. County Manager Eric Zamora said the county did have other accounts at other banks. Abril noted that Wells Fargo handled the account for the judicial complex.

Otero-Kirkham asked if the account for the judicial complex could be audited, and Abril said it could. "Then that's the way this hospital funding should be," she said. "If we don't have a separate account for this money, it could be very dangerous."

Commissioner Lynette Pinkston said that the commission had directed that a separate account be established for the hospital funds when the mill levy was passed in November 2007.

Gentry asked if it was safe to say that the hospital monies were commingled with the rest of the county funds. Otero-Kirkham replied that it was.

"That's what I was afraid of," he said. Abril said she has sent a letter to the State Department of Finance Authority asking for direction on how to establish the account but had not received an answer.

None of the commissioners looked pleased with the situation. "If, God forbid, we should have to return this money, we need to how much is there," Otero-Kirkham said.

"I'm concerned and the other commissioners are concerned that this money is not in a separate account," Gentry said. "This information needs to be really visible and available to the public. With the judicial complex, you can see every dime that was budgeted and spent. I'd hate to think that this money just floated off into the big commingled fund at Bank of the West. We need to move forward and get it uncomingled."

In a telephone interview on Friday, County Attorney Cynthia Wimberly said the matter was still in process. "We are waiting for an opinion letter from our bond counsel, Duane Brown," she said. "The county definitely wants the funds in a separate account." Brown is with the Modrall Sperling law firm in Albuquerque.

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