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Updated IRS tax figure pushes VCAD expenses higher
Nevada Daily Mail
The Vernon County Ambulance Board owes the IRS more than its original $213,000 figure, according to board vice-chairperson Chris Mason. Already in debt from a recent IRS tax lien and a litany of other unpaid expenses, the $213,000 figure previously presented to the public did not include unpaid withholdings for the second and third quarters of 2015.
That number in the initial lien only accounted for the last quarter quarter of 2013, all four quarters of '14 and the first quarter of '15.
During the board's regular monthly meeting Thursday night, Mason said the board is awaiting a new official figure that will include the up-to-date figures. Mason also said that recently the Joplin IRS branch referred the case to the Lee's Summit IRS branch.
Mason estimated that with the second and third quarters of 2015 included, an additional $50,000 would get tacked on to the current IRS bill, increasing it to over a quarter million dollars.
In addition to the back-withholdings, the new figure will potentially include fees and interest charges.
Adding to the list, the board revealed a $15,000-plus expense owed to Stryker EMS for an ambulance cot.
"We just found out yesterday that it hadn't been paid," Mason said of the $15,000 bill.
Mason said on Friday that while the ambulance was insured, the contents of the ambulance were not leaving the ambulance district responsible for those expenses.
During the meeting, Mason expressed his displeasure that the accounts payable printout distributed to the board was not fully compiled and that there wasn't a fully completed listing of VCAD vendors.
"We'd still like to have this list completed and be 100 percent sure of what all the district's liabilities are," he said after the meeting. "We have (instructed) the staff to make contact with every vendor that we know of that we've had transactions with in the past."
Mason said he thought VCAD was billed for this expense in January, so it's unclear as to why the expense was not included on its accounts payable summary distributed at its regular October board meeting.
Mason told the Daily Mail the cot was a replacement for an ambulance that was involved in a rollover wreck on I-49 near Harrisonville in August 2014 that resulted in the death of its patient a Nevada man.
Also omitted from its expense report was an additional $6,500 related to a VCAD credit card. Mason said the credit card might have previously been in the name of a former employee, causing an issue with getting an updated balance.
Mason also said the board was hit with a $14,000 outstanding balance from a company called OnDeck. According to its website, OnDeck provides "business loans from $5,000 to $500,000 for small businesses."
Mason said the board found out about the $20,000 line of credit "after the fact" and hadn't given its approval.
He said he believed the line of credit was to help with a cash flow issue related to Medicaid and Medicare billing reimbursements that hadn't been received by VCAD.
Despite the news, board chairperson Mark Humphrey said he is encouraged with the direction VCAD is heading in.
"I think we're moving forward," Humphrey said. "I think we are moving at a pretty good pace. We're obviously coming up with a pretty good handle on where we are with our (account) payables at this point.
"We've been in contact with the IRS people trying to stay up on that and keep them briefed as much as we possibly can. We're trying to work towards a solution with some long-term notes to take care of our debt."