Cogdell hospital status changed, budgets approved

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County taxing entities approved budgets during August and Cogdell Memorial Hospital received a change in status that should help generate additional revenues.
The Snyder City Council approved a $7.6 million general fund budget, $623,486 hotel occupancy and Tax Reinvestment Financing Zone budget, $10.8 million water, sewer and sanitation budget and $442,980 central garage budget for an overall city budget of $19.5 million.
The council approved the 43.87 cents per $100 valuation to help fund the general fund budget.
The Snyder ISD board of trustees approved a $37.4 million operating budget. That is lower than last year’s budget of $40.3 million. The tax rate remained $1.164 per $100 valuation.
The Western Texas College board of trustees approved a $19.6 million budget and a 32.75 cent per $100 valuation tax rate.
The Scurry County Hospital District board of directors approved a deficit budget for 2016.The budget includes $34 million in expenses and $28 million in revenue. Of the expenses, $5.5 million was bad debt. The board approved a tax rate of 25.38 cents per $100 valuation, which was an increase on the 2015 fiscal year tax rate of 20.64 cents.
The Hermleigh ISD board of trustees approved a tax rate of $1.29 per $100 valuation to fund the $2.8 million budget.
The Ira ISD board of trustees approved a $1.50 tax rate and $2.8 million budget
Cogdell Memorial Hospital’s administration received official word in August that the critical access hospital (CAH) designation was approved. Chief Executive Officer Ella Raye Helms said that the hospital will now be considered a CAH facility retroactive to April 21.
“As a CAH, Cogdell will receive about $1.8 million annually in additional Medicare reimbursement from the federal government,” she said. “This funding restores some of the Medicare budget cuts that Cogdell has experienced in recent years. CAH status also allows the hospital to recoup an estimated 30 percent of depreciation costs, which is vitally important due to the new construction.”
Hermleigh ISD earned met standards status on the 2015 Texas Education Agency (TEA) accountability ratings.
“This was a group effort. With the leadership and support of the Hermleigh ISD board of trustees and the continuing support of our community this led to our ongoing improvement and success,” Superintendent Ronnie Roemisch said of the state rating.
Snyder ISD and two of its campuses were deemed improvement required by the TEA. Snyder Junior High School and Snyder Intermediate School were each labeled improvement required. Snyder High School was rated as met standards for meeting all four indexes.
Ira ISD received the met standards rating for 2015.
Statewide, 983 of the 1,024 districts met standards, the highest rating given by the TEA. Only 610 of the state’s 8,646 schools were labeled as improvement required.
All three Scurry County public school districts reported an enrollment increase on the first day of school.
Snyder ISD reported an enrollment of 2,798 students, an increase of eight compared to 2014’s total of 2,790.
Hermleigh ISD had a first-day enrollment of 240 students, an increase of seven compared to the 2014 first day total of 233. Ira ISD reported a first-day enrollment of 278 students, an increase of15 compared to the 2014 first day total of 263.
Western Texas College’s first-day enrollment for the fall semester surpassed the 2014 total.
Britt Canada, the college’s dean of institutional research and effectiveness, reported that 2,083 students were enrolled on the first day of classes. In 2014, the college had a first-day enrollment of 2,068.
Interim Snyder ISD Superintendent Jim Kirklandannounced that Dr. Rachael McClain was named the district’s chief academic officer.
“Since my being here the past two months, Dr. McClain has exhibited a broad depth of knowledge of curriculum and instruction and a willingness to do whatever is asked of her for the betterment of Snyder ISD,” Kirkland said. “This position is crucial to helping the improvement required campuses and Snyder ISD meet accountability standards.”
The sales tax allocations for Snyder and Scurry County continued to track behind the 2014 totals. The city received $305,135 this month, down from $392,871 in August 2014. That represents a 22.33 percent decrease in allocations. The county’s allocations were only 1.05 percent below the August 2014 total. The county received $197,286 in allocations in August 2015 compared to $199,382 August 2014.
Scurry County’s unemployment rate continued to rise, according to figures released by the Texas Workforce Commission. The July unemployment rate was 4.3 percent, up from June’s rate of 4.1 percent. According to the July figures, Scurry County had 8,944 people in the labor force, with 381 of those considered unemployed.