by: Ben W. Hobert
October 9, 2024
A majority of the Johnson County Kansas Board of Commissioners have demonstrated that their last concern is the tax burden on citizens of the county.
Their decisions over the last 3-1⁄2 years indicate a predilection for enriching private not-for-profit entities, developers, and new (but not existing) businesses.
Commissioners Allenbrand and Meyers are consistently placing citizens last in their fiscal determinations and should be voted out of office on November 5.
You don’t believe that is the case? Let me give you an example.
Since 2007 Johnson County has partnered with Evergreen Living Innovations, Inc. (“ELI”) to provide nursing home services for elderly medicaid clients and other clients. Johnson County provided a subsidy of up to $800,000 per year to ELI to operate its nursing home. The 2007 agreement was to terminate on December 31, 2027.
Accordingly, as of March 1, 2023, there were 4 years and 10 months remaining under the agreement and approximately $3.8 million of subsidy remaining to be paid under the agreement.
According to public testimony, only 60 residents were living in the ELI nursing home as of March 1, 2023.
The Johnson County nursing home operated by ELI is in poor condition and is slated to be demolished. Effective as of March 1, 2023, a majority of the Johnson County Kansas Board of Commissioners entered into an Early Termination Agreement (“ETA”) with ELI which provided that the County would pay ELI $10 million upon execution of the ETA and, if ELI secured financing for a new building and the issuance of a building permit, an additional $13.8 million.
The $13.8 million was recently paid to ELI along with interest accrued on the funds held, resulting in a total of approximately $24.8 million being paid to ELI. The total $24.8 million payment to ELI was more than $20 million in excess of the remaining subsidy due under the 2007 agreement.
Under the ETA, there is no contractual requirement that ELI serve medicaid clients.
Every Johnson Countian should know that a Request for Proposal (“RFP”) was sent out to other nursing home providers to transition the elderly residents and there were 3 respondents in addition to ELI.
The County cancelled that process with the following explanation: “Johnson County has determined it to be in the best interest of the County to cancel the solicitation.”
The other proposals would have been much less costly to County taxpayers, including a proposal from Villa St. Francis, another not- for-profit, which operates a nursing home for elderly clients, including clients under Medicaid.
Taxpayers of Johnson County should also know that, according to public testimony, there were 32 competitors with nursing home facilities in a 10 mile radius with 900 open beds available for elderly residents. The elderly residents in the ELI facility could have been transitioned to other nursing home facilities. Employees of ELI would have readily found jobs with other nursing home operators given current staffing challenges as offered in public comments.
Johnson County did not have a moral, ethical or contractual obligation to either ELI or elderly residents to build a new facility to house them. The 60 residents could have been moved to other nursing homes without making such a large payment at public expense.
In my view, the majority of the Johnson County Board of County Commissioners authorizing the $24.8 million payment to ELI breached their fiduciary duty to taxpayers of Johnson County. The fact that these funds were derived from State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (“SLFRF”) does not change that fact.
Any citizen may review the February 16, 2023 deliberations regarding the ultimate $24.8 million payment to ELI on the Johnson County Board of County Commissioners website.
Commissioners Allenbrand and Meyers were in the 5 person majority who approved the egregious $24.8 million payment. In my judgment, their approval of this $24.8 million payment ($20 million in excess of the County’s contractual obligations under the 2007 agreement) should disqualify them from public office.
Please vote Commissioners Allenbrand and Meyers out of office on November 5.