Changes made to County-PDA intergovernmental agreement

After much scrutinizing and refining, it seems the attorneys for the Sumter County Board of Commissioners (BOC) and the Americus-Sumter County Payroll Development Authority (PDA) have finally come up with an intergovernmental agreement for advanced funding for 2007 special purpose local option sales tax (SPLOST) projects.

The two governments met Tuesday to approve the amended intergovernmental agreement, which supersedes the one approved in April.

In April, the agreement boiled down to the PDA being a "intermediary" for a loan of $3 million for the advanced funding of specified 2007 SPLOST projects "for the cities of Americus, Andersonville, DeSoto, Leslie and Plains and the Sumter County Jail and Correctional Institute," according to the intergovernmental agreement.

Also at April's meeting, Sumter Bank & Trust was awarded the bid for the loan at a fixed interest rate of 3.54 percent, as one option.

The Americus project funded was the Rees Park School Building (now the Americus-Sumter County Economic Development Center) at $1,215,000. The City of Andersonville had a "building renovation" for $134,000; the City of DeSoto had an "addition/renovation" to City Hall for $310,000; and Leslie had the renovation of City Hall and the Police Department for $431,000.  According to the agreement, renovations to the jail and the CI are estimated at $910,000.  According to the agreement, the actual SPLOST funds will not be available until March 2009.

PDA attorney Mike Fennessy said some points of the agreement were not agreeable to everyone on both boards.

In the new agreement, the PDA's obligation to Sumter Bank & Trust is a "limited obligation," in that only the $3 million in SPLOST funds from the County is payable," Fennessy explained.

The second change to the agreement was the County will not sign a promissory note, Fennessy explained. The County will pay the bank directly, according to the promissory note the PDA signs with the bank.

If the SPLOST funds are insufficient to cover the amount of the loan, the County will use other funds to pay on the loan, according to the new agreement, Fennessy explained. This means that the cities would be required to pay their "pro rata share," if this were to occur.

However, both County Administrator Lynn Taylor and Fennessy do not expect that to be the case. In fact, Taylor explained the SPLOST goes for six years, and the County will pay the loan back in three years.

Once the BOC approved the agreement, Board members were dismissed, and the PDA part of the meeting continued with an update on the physician retention program, being administered through Phase 2 Consulting: A RehabCare Co.

Bryan Smith, a representative of the company, said his company determined that 85 physicians provided health care in this community, and information on the loan retention program was sent to those physicians. Smith said 72 were received and 13 were not at the listed address.

Three public notices appeared in the Americus Times-Recorder, and calls were made to physicians' offices.

Smith said his company found that eight practices (12 physicians) expressed interest in the program, and 65 physicians have not responded. He added that five practices have said "no" for various reasons.

Smith showed the PDA where documentation was received from the physicians, and having conducted an overview of applicants, the company determined there were eight interested practices showed over $800,000 in economic damages since the March 2007 tornado.

Smith said once the final amount of the total program is known, Phase 2 will make its final recommendation. Once this is done, the PDA - the organization Sumter Regional chose to oversee the physician retention program - will vote on the recommendation.  Then, funds will be distributed to physicians and the program will close. PDA Chairman Paul Hall said he hopes to have the program wrapped up by May 20.

In other matters, the PDA approved a lease modification agreement with Middle Flint Regional Development Center (RDC), due to renovations and repairs made on the RDC building.