Meetings watch — April 29

Roosevelt County Commission

The following are the 2016 fiscal year preliminary budgets presented to Roosevelt County Commissioners on Monday:

• The budget for the rural volunteer fire departments dropped from $6,030 to $4,500. In previous years, the budget had been $6,700, and made the drop to $6,030 last year.

According to Ann Clark, Causey city clerk, the rural fire departments are provided with a $7,000 EMS fund, which covers two ambulances per year. She said that is not enough for fuel and maintenance, and all of the department’s other funds have been expended into things like all day training and food maintenance.

Becky Fraze, Dora city clerk, said a regular ambulance run from Dora to Portales is $500, and Dora has no indigent funds. She said the departments do not get state reimbursements, and only the patients can apply for those.

Clark asked if this budget drop will change in the future, and commission Chairman Kendell Buzard said there is no way to predict that right now.

• The total expenses for the road department were $2,182,642.

According to Superintendent Ricky Lovato, all capital outlay projects have been rolled to next fiscal year. No additional capital outlay will be given for the next fiscal year.

Lovato said the department is a year behind with road projects, and there is only one person for each route.

He said a lot of the wages came from not hiring two more workers.

General costs caused the department to go over the budget $2,600. They added workman’s compensation to roll the department’s budget from the commissioner’s budget, which caused the increase.

• The sheriff’s office budget will total an estimated $1,454,854 with vehicle maintenance, equipment rental, mileage (which includes prisoner transport), postage and mail, telephone, utilities, equipment, repair and maintenance, office supplies, printing and publishing, ammunition, education, vehicles, commodities, sheriff’s expense, and transportation and expedition.

County Manager Amber Hamilton said new hiring expenses and random drug tests are costly for the office.

Sheriff Malin Parker said the office is trying to set up negotiations with Roosevelt General Hospital to get a better deal for new employee’s physicals and blood work. Parker added that a new expense for the office is $25 bills for DWI blood draws.

• Hamilton said part-time salaries are a new addition to the detention/correction’s $2,806,366 budget because officials added the potential of hiring up to four part-time officers.

Hamilton added that workman’s compensation was worked into the budget this year and $4,240 was added for the accommodation for new hires and random drug tests.

Sandra Stewart, a consultant the county contracted with to provide assessment for the Roosevelt County Detention Center, said the biggest concern is completing the replacement of locks in three of the day rooms for safety and security reasons.

According to Hamilton, the costly project to update half of the locks was authorized by commissioners in 2013. Stewart said she thinks it is possible to find good, quality locks at good prices, and stressed that the updating of the locks is an important project that needs to be finished.

• The assessor’s office budget will total an estimated $394,053.

County assessor George Beggs said the office’s biggest concern is getting their software system loaded. According to Beggs, the office is still building on a new data system they adopted two years ago.

“It’s a big deal,” he said. “It’s taking a lot of time.”

Beggs said if they could get a staff person strictly for the job and get the project finished, it would help generate an estimated $58,000.

Beggs said the system is currently overridden at a set value.

“We’re collecting on it, but once we get it loaded to where it can work like it is supposed to, then it will automatically roll until it gets to market value, which is three percent,” he said.

Beggs said with additional staff, the project could be finished in a year or year and a half instead of the projected three to five years.

Roosevelt General Hospital Board

The Roosevelt General Hospital Board held their monthly meeting on Tuesday. The following items were discussed during the meeting:

• Board members approved the credentialing of radiology consultant associate Cindy Sirosis

• RGH Chief Financial Officer Eva Stevens reported that the hospital had a daily average census of 7.3 for April. She said the hospital had a net income of $182,000 with an operating margin of approximately $60,000. Board members approved the hospital’s financials for April as well as the hospital’s quarterly state budget of $21 million.

• Stevens reported the hospital’s regulatory compliance program is currently handling three compliance cases. She said the cases include meeting regulations for licensing and certifications of employees and contractors, compensation for employees and contractors, and the accuracy of clinical documents within the clinical medical record system.

• RGH Chief Operating Officer Anne Carey reported on the hospital’s Clinical Services. Carey said the hospital has improved hand washing compliance to 76% in April compared to 48% in March. She said the hospital has reduced medication errors to three in April compared to six in March. Carey reported that the State of New Mexico reduced funding for the RGH trauma program by $100,000.

• The board heard a clinic report from Clinic Administrator Tina Hill. Hill reported the clinic saw 3,622 encounters during the month of April. She also reported that the hospital’s behavioral health program has seen an average of 60-70 patients per month.

• The board entered executive session to discuss long term strategic planning and no action was taken.

— Staff reports