The particulars of what will be discussed during tomorrow afternoon’s Estes Park Health board of directors meeting were released Monday along with directions of how to attend virtually, but not mentioned in the information disseminated to the EPH newsletter subscribers was review of the 2025 budget.
The newsletter encouraging attendance says the agenda “includes a report on Estes Park Health third quarter financials, a hospital Strategic Update, and an EPH Foundation Strategic Update by Sue Cooper.”
Prior to tomorrow’s 5:30 p.m. meeting at Town Hall, the board’s finance subcommittee is set to meet at 10 a.m. this morning for 30 minutes to review September financials.
That session will follow a two-hour executive session meeting that is set to begin at 8 a.m. Both meetings are listed on the EPH website board meetings list. The regular meeting, which typically occurs on the fourth Wednesday of the month, was moved due to the date of Thanksgiving.
Balancing Estes Park Health’s 2025 budget that the State of Colorado says cannot have more expenditures than revenues (CRS 129-1-103(2)) is not an easy task when the total operating income for next year shows operating expenses outpacing operating income by more than $4.1 million.
It had been anticipated that the public would learn details about EPH’s plan to remedy a deficit between operating fund revenues and expenditures in 2025. However, as of 7 a.m. Tuesday, no official agenda or packet for Wednesday’s meeting had been posted.
Just six weeks ago EPH inked a potential deal to give its assets and operations to UCHealth. Should something go haywire and the deal with the biggest healthcare nonprofit operating in the state fail, the district will have to find a way to operate on its own in 2025.
A published notice said the budget would be reviewed at the Nov. 13 meeting and adopted on Dec. 13. The notice did not specify on which date the public hearing on the budget would occur. State local budget law requires that a public hearing be conducted (CRS 129-1-106 (1) (a)).
The draft budget, which had to be obtained through a Colorado Open Records Act request, shows most of the deficit could be recaptured by what the draft budget calls “nonoperating revenues (expenses)” – line items labeled property tax revenues, interest expense, investment income (loss), gain (loss) on disposal of capital assets, noncapital grants and contributions, and other.”
Given that EPH did not include the required documentation with the draft budget, what creates a 2025 projected $545,828 loss in interest expense, or what constitutes a $202,522 loss in “other” is unknown. State budget law (CRS 29-1-103(1) (d)) says the budget document must include “corresponding actual figures for the last completed fiscal year and the estimated figures projected through the end of the current fiscal year, and an explanatory schedule.”
In addition to those “net nonoperating revenues,” shown on the EPH draft budget, the deficit listed on the one-page proposed budget shows a deficit of revenues over expenses before capital contributions of $45,955. Presumably, those items would be transferred to UCHealth as noted in a summary of the letter of intent signed by both UCHealth and EPH.
The budget deficit on the EPH draft budget is further reduced by adding anticipated capital contributions of $175,000. The budget for this year anticipated receiving $300,000 in capital contributions. Without the comparison summary required by the state budget law, it is unknown whether that amount was received.
It also is unknown exactly what date staff provided the district board of directors with the draft budget which was due on Oct. 15. However, the accompanying documentation required by the state, which has been provided since 2020, albeit up to 35 days late, always has been included.