County urged to keep health unit open
County residents urged justices of the peace Monday night to continue funding the county health unit at the same level next year amid a looming cut to the city’s annual contribution.
Garland County Health Unit Administrator Chris Rowland told the Public, Health, Welfare and Safety Committee of the Garland County Quorum Court that the facility at 1425 Malvern Ave. could operate through April or May of next year without the $45,000 the city has historically contributed.
The city is considering reducing the contribution to $15,000 next year and ending it altogether in 2019. The county appropriated $146,800 for operating and maintenance expenses at the health unit this year, with the city’s contribution reimbursing $45,000 of the expense. The Arkansas Department of Health provides the $1.4 million payroll for the facility’s staff.
The Hot Springs Board of Directors added $15,000 in December to the $30,000 the city initially budgeted for its 2017 contribution. Larry Williams, District 4 city director and former county judge, voted against the budget amendment and ultimately against the resolution adopting the city’s $111.6
million 2017 budget in protest.
The city maintains municipalities aren’t statutorily obligated to fund county health units, which Williams reiterated for the quorum court committee Monday night. In support of his argument, he provided the committee copies of a 2006 Jefferson County resolution that authorized the county to accept maintenance and operational responsibilities for its health unit in return for a state grant that helped renovate the facility.
Williams said Garland County accepted a similar grant to build its health unit in the early 1990s. During city budget debates last year, he also pointed to the absence of companion city legislation for a 1984 and 1987 county resolution and ordinance establishing cost-sharing levels for the “City-County Health Department.”
He said the lack of a parallel city action shows it never intended to commit itself to a cost-sharing agreement.
“The only place I know where there’s a city-run health unit is North Little Rock,” Williams told the committee. “That’s the only city I know that does that.”
Current County Judge Rick Davis told the committee cities are retrenching on cost-sharing agreements at the urging of the Arkansas Municipal League.
“What they’re saying is cities should not fund anything that is not statutorily mandated,” he said. “If you listen to our city manager, that’s what he usually says.”
Davis said funding obligations aren’t clearly delineated by statute because the state wants to allow for the different financial circumstances of local governments.
“The state thinks the city and county should put in a partnership,” he told the committee. “Not because they’re forced to. They think (cities and counties) should have a willingness to do that.
“You look at it all across the state. There are cities that are involved. There are counties that take the total burden. It just depends on the area you’re in and what you can afford to do.”
Williams said the city board might be inclined to continue funding the health unit at current levels if the county reinstates its road millage, which provided the city with about $350,000 a year for its streets. The county replaced the 1.2 mills it used to levy for roads with a General Fund millage during the 2014, 2015 and 2016 tax years, the proceeds of which have been transferred to the county road fund during each of the three years.
The state tax code requires cities and counties to split the proceeds of road millages levied in incorporated areas. Williams has called the millage shift a “shell game” that deprives the city of street-maintenance funds.
The city board earlier this year adopted a resolution sponsored by Williams that urges the county to reinstate the road tax. The county has twice tabled consideration of it.
“You have a resolution that the city has sent over to you on another issue,” Williams told the committee. “If that were dealt with some of this money could flow back to you. I think that we’re all in agreement in this room tonight that we don’t want the health department to close its doors.”
Several people who expressed support for funding the health unit at current levels said that while the city may not be statutorily mandate to share in the expenses, it has a civic responsibility to contribute. They said that responsibility is more profound in light of incorporated-area residents consuming most of the health services offered at the facility.
District 2 JP Thomas Anderson assured the audience that the county would keep the health unit open if the city cuts funding next year.
“When it’s all said and done, the county is going to do the right thing,” he said. “And it’s shame on the city for not wanting to help.”