The Lowndes County Board of Supervisors is withdrawing more than $1.1 million from its hospital trust fund this year.
The trust was established with $30 million the county received from the sale of the county hospital in 2006. In 2013, state law was changed to allow Lowndes County to invest trust fund money in stocks and bonds.
During a board meeting Monday, County Administrator Jay Fisher said the trust had had a “fantastic year of performance,” starting out around $35 million in FY 2024 and finishing the year at about $39.78 million.
“It was up almost $4 million,” Fisher said. “$3.86 million.”
Each budget year the county may make a withdrawal of up to 3% of the value of the investments, but not if the balance goes down, like it did in 2022.
Fisher recommended the board withdraw the maximum amount of $1,193,000 this year, which the board voted to do unanimously.
Board President Trip Hairston said the withdrawal was already factored into the county’s budget for the new fiscal year to help cover costs of purchasing the Golden Triangle Development LINK’s former location on Main Street and to fund other projects at the Industrial Park near the Golden Triangle Regional Airport.
After this withdrawal, Fisher said, the county will have drawn $9.58 million from the fund over the past 10 years.
“Over 10 years, you’ve withdrawn almost $10 million, and the fund has grown almost $10 million,” Fisher said. “That’s almost $20 million worth of growth in 10 years. Unbelievable, for the county, to be able to do those special projects.”
Hairston said the money has allowed the county to fund many capital improvements projects, like partially funding the Lowndes County Sportsplex off Highway 82, the Multipurpose Arena/Lowndes Extension Office off Tom Rose Road and the Justice Court building on Martin Luther King Drive.
Fisher said money from the hospital fund has also been used to service debt and other capital improvements, like the health department building on Lehmberg Road and the E-911 Center next to the courthouse.
“If you look at the infrastructure that we have provided with that money… you can name one thing after another that has been provided to the county and the residents by the benefit of having the trust fund,” Hairston said.
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