Déjà vu all over again (Copperas Cove Civic Center Heartburn)

Here we go again.

The Civic Center rental fees and any issues thereof will be looked at by the Copperas Cove City Council on Tuesday night. We shall see what happens with this.

Here is information provided by the city about how much the Civic Center has been rented over the past four fiscal years and the current status for this fiscal year (2017-2018). This document is attached to the meeting agenda for Tuesday.

At the March 6 meeting, Councilman Jay Manning expressed what he saw as the ultimate tragedy of the city’s facilities seeing less revenue over the past couple of years, as he ASSUMED, from the increased rates of the civic center.

He did NOT quote fees from civic center rentals, as one local publication claimed. NOPE. The numbers he quoted were for CITY FACILITIES as a whole. NOT just the civic center.

Mr. Manning was piecing together an ASSUME-PTION. Yes. ASSUME-ing.

Take a look at the figures again. Civic Center Rental has NOT gone down drastically. 

Or has it? 

It's gone down, some. But is the reason because of the rates? 

Or is it because the facilities themselves don't compare well to other places? 

Is it because the parking isn't that great? 

Look at the graphic again. If you click on it, it will get bigger.

So there you have it. I wonder if the council GOBC (Good Old Boys Club) members will have the Copperas Cove Chamber of Commerce reps there, again, staged, to make their plea without making a plea for cheaper rates.

Things that make you go hmmmmm…

(B’ware the walking quorum, y’all.)

#idontunderstand #again

Next up – again – is the “more information” that councilman Jay Manning wanted about the proposed agreement that Deputy Fire Chief Gary Young NEVER EVEN HAD THE CHANCE TO TALK ABOUT because Mr. Manning wanted to postpone the discussion because he needed “more information.”

I won’t repeat myself – aw shoot, yes I will. Never mind that DC Young had a company rep with them plus information in a presentation along with the agreement details. Is anyone else in Copperas Cove other than me and (I’m guessing) DC Young embarrassed at this action?

Here is the last post to refresh your memory of why Mr. Manning’s request was so baffling at the last meeting.

Show me the money - oh wait, nevermind 

Anyhoo, HERE is apparently what Mr. Manning wanted to know:

Does EMSMC perform this service?

No. EMSMC is responsible for claims submissions, denials, and appeals from the initial patient care report. Reimbursements from the insurance payers and self-payers are paid to EMSMC and are in-turn sent to the City minus their fee for service. (Curmudgeon here: EMSMC is short for Emergency Medical Service Management & Consultants, the company that handles the process of recovering funds from Medicaid or self-pay patients.) 

Is there a collection agency and do they perform this service?

There is a collection agency that handles the portion of the EMS bill that insurance companies do not pay or payments that are received from self-payers that the patient is still responsible for. Balances not received are eventually written-off as bad debt. It is this written-off portion that Change Healthcare Technology applies for reimbursement of a portion of this bad debt from the Texas Department of State Health Services. Neither EMSMC nor the collection agency is able to perform this specialized task within the scope of their responsibilities.

What is the anticipated revenue for this program?*

Due to the fluctuation in claims payments, it is difficult to forecast an accurate dollar amount. However, based on trends in collections from EMSMC and the amount of bad debt remaining, the City is anticipating approximately $131,000.00 the first year of the program and approximately $225,000.00 annually in the following years.

What is the set-up fee?*

There is an initial set-up fee payable to Change Healthcare Technology in the amount of $5,500.00. This fee has been budgeted from the Fire Department’s Operations budget.

Curmudgeon here again. (The above was copied AND pasted directly from the agenda for the meeting.)

Okeydokey, so the first two questions must to be follow-up questions from Mr. Manning. 

Um, so WHY didn’t he ask them during the meeting? 

Why did he feel he had to wait, or want the entire council to wait? 

WHY didn’t other council members ask, “WHY DO WE HAVE TO POSTPONE THIS? WE HAVE A COMPANY REPRESENTATIVE RIGHT HERE?” Nope, all except save two (Mr. Morris and Mr. Pierce) voted in favor of  postponing this.

I am wondering if Mr. Coyle with the company will be there again. (Embarrassing, again.)

*The last two questions were answered during the March 6 meeting, but given that the fire chief is being thorough, the answers are spelled out again for Mr. Manning’s convenience and information.

Curmudgeon will watch and see. 

If you did not know, the meetings are live on the city channel on Spectrum. 

OR there is a very convenient replay available on the city’s website.

Thanks for reading. Subscribe with your email and you can read it FIRST before you see it on Facebook. Love it, hate it, question it. 

Peace, love, and bunnies, y'all.

Watch for another Déjà vu post again – this one, about the Copperas Cove Economic Development Corporation.