My name is William “Bill” Bohnert and I am the newest member of the Perry County board of Trustees. I was elected in April Of 2022 by the citizens of Perry County to be a fiduciary (Trustee) of the hospital properties and funds that belong to the citizens of Perry County. The board has been involved in the last year with negotiating a lease to rent the grounds and facilities to Mercy hospital. A company, VMG health was hired by the board of Trustees to determine the rental value of the hospital in a triple net lease at a cost of $40,000 of taxpayer money. VMG valued the hospital rent value at a low of $1,470,000 to a high of $2,250.000 per year. A triple net lease is described as an agreement where the tenant (Mercy) would pay for most of the expenses of upkeep and repair in return for a lower rent. Mercy will be paying $160,000 a year to rent the hospital and grounds. With this agreement, the board of Trustees still has to pay to maintain and fix HVAC systems {which include boilers, chillers and air handlers), electrical, plumbing, pumps, compressors, generators, roofs, elevators, main internal and external structural support walls, drainage systems, access ways and parking lots. Mercy will be responsible for only routine maintenance of property and equipment and is only paying rent of $160, 000 per year. Mercy should be paying the higher lease amount every year. It doesn’t sound like much of a deal to me either!
VMG gave the following valuations for the hospital and grounds. The first line of numbers is the suggested amount by VMG of rent that should have been paid by the tenant to the board of Trustees. The second line is how much Mercy will be paying in rent. The third line is lost revenue, The fourth line is lost revenue over the length of the 8- year initial lease.
Low rent
$1,470,000 per yr.
-160,000 per yr.
$1,310,000 per yr.
x8 $10,480,000
Mid rent
$1,860,000 per yr.
-160,000 per yr.
$1,700,000 per yr.
High rent
$2,250,000 per yr.
- 160,000 per yr.
$2, 090,000 per yr.
x8 $16,720,000
Then you have to also remember that the county citizens pay the equivalent of $350,000 a year in hospital taxes to support the hospital. If you deduct the $160,000 of rent money from the $350,000 of tax money, that means the citizens are actually paying the tenant $190,000 to rent the hospital and equipment. $190,000 over eight (8) years is $1,520,000 paid to support the tenant. I am still trying to figure out how the Trustees will pay all these future bills. Yes, all the other trustees minus myself approved this agreement.
This is not what I call being a good trustee of the properties and funds that belong to the citizens of Perry County. 1 hope that everyone will join me in voting on April 4th. Thank you and stay tuned for more.
William “Bill” Bohnert
PCMH Board of Trustees Member
Perry County Coroner
