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JPS Health Network’s board of managers listen to a presentation about the hospital district’s financial reports Aug. 22, 2024. From left to right: Amanda Arizola, Blake Woodard, Trent Petty, and Dustin Austin. (Camilo Diaz | Fort Worth Report)
” data-medium-file=”https://fortworthreport.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/JPS-board_Aug22_CamiloDiaz0398-scaled-e1724438450607.jpg?fit=300%2C193&ssl=1″ data-large-file=”https://fortworthreport.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/JPS-board_Aug22_CamiloDiaz0398-scaled-e1724438450607.jpg?fit=780%2C503&ssl=1″ tabindex=”0″ role=”button”>As JPS Health Network prepares to budget its costs for fiscal year 2025, hospital district leaders anticipate an increase in the majority of its operational revenue but a decrease in tax funding. JPS is Tarrant County’s taxpayer-supported hospital district that provides various health care needs to residents of Tarrant County. During an Aug. 22 board meeting, JPS leaders estimated its overall operating revenue for 2025, which includes tax revenue, will be roughly $1.72 billion — an increase from fiscal year 2024. Last year, JPS passed an operating revenue budget of $1.57 billion. The budget is based on a new tax rate of $0.1875, which is less than its 2024 fiscal year rate at $0.1945. Prior to JPS presenting its budget proposal, Tarrant County commissioners voted 3-2 along party lines to lower the tax rate during an Aug. 20 meeting. Commissioners can approve the rate without requiring it to pass through the JPS board of managers. The new tax rate is projected to bring about $523 million tax revenue for JPS, a decrease of $20 million from 2024, Rory McCrady, interim chief financial officer for JPS, said Aug. 22. Prior to budget discussions, JPS board manager Ralph Waldo Emerson, Jr. shared concerns with the 2025 tax rate, including his belief that the hospital district is “being punished.” “Commissioners court just arbitrarily set a tax rate and then we had to fit our budget into that with no consideration for the master facilities plan,” Emerson, an appointee of Commissioner Roy Charles Brooks, said. “We as a board have to talk to our commissioners in the room together to see where they want us to go, and where we want to go.”Emerson was referring to the hospital system’s master facility plan, which is supported by an $800 million bond package voters approved in 2018. The plan details new facilities, including a medical home, psychiatric emergency center, medical outpatient building, pavilion expansion and a new hospital.During the same Aug. 22 meeting, hospital leaders estimated the bond projects will total over $2.1 billion — a 40% jump from their 2022 estimate of $1.5 billion. Consultants for JPS attributed the increase to higher labor costs, price of materials and inflation affecting the entire health care industry. JPS board manager Ralph Waldo Emerson Jr. listens to a presentation about the hospital district’s financial reports Aug. 22, 2024. (Camilo Diaz | Fort Worth Report)Board chair Roger Fisher said some members of the board might share similar “frustrations” in regards to the tax rate, but he believes it’s a process “that we need to continue to refine throughout the year.”“It has always been the responsibility of this board to put forth a budget that’s responsible, that continues to deliver access to care and it’s up to the (commissioners) court to determine what the tax rate will be and how we fit in that budget,” Fisher, who was appointed by Commissioner Gary Fickes, said. “I don’t think we can change that in this meeting.” Tim Davis, an appointee of County Judge Tim O’Hare, was the only board manager to express he wasn’t concerned with the tax rate and said JPS has over $150 million in surplus to continue to operate at full capacity. “I don’t think all members of the board share that sentiment,” he said in response to Emerson and Fisher. Aside from the decrease in tax revenue, hospital leaders were optimistic as JPS’ operating revenues — comprising patient services, Medicaid funding, retail pharmacy, and other funds — are expected to increase by $23 million to total $1.2 billion in 2025. “That is one of those areas we’ve been successful in growing as we become less reliant on tax dollars,” McCrady said.Rory McCrady, interim chief financial officer for JPS, discusses the hospital district’s fiscal year 2025 budget during a board meeting held Aug. 22, 2024. (Camilo Diaz | Fort Worth Report)JPS’ biggest bump in revenue comes from patient services, which are expected to bring in $753 million for fiscal year 2025 — an increase of $16 million from last year. The patient revenue is a reflection of the high demand for services, Dr. Karen Duncan, CEO and president of JPS, said. The Tarrant County hospital district’s proposal estimates its general operating expenses will be $1.65 billion or an increase of $122 million from fiscal year 2024.What will JPS Health Network’s fiscal year 2025 budget cover?

Salaries and related expenses: 63%

Purchased services: 15%

Supplies: 15%

Other operating expenses: 4%

Depreciation: 3%Board manager Trent Petty applauded staff members for compiling the proposed 2025 budget amid changes in leadership, finances and “policy direction” in recent years. “(Staff) were asked to put together a budget that met our services that don’t reduce our services to our patients and make sure that we’ve thought through what we know today and what the bond program is going to require to finish,” Petty, an appointee of Fickes, said. JPS Health Network will present its fiscal year 2025 budget to Tarrant County commissioners in early September. The Commissioners Court will take final action on the Tarrant County Hospital District’s tax rate and budget Sept. 17. David Moreno is the health reporter for the Fort Worth Report. His position is supported by a grant from Texas Health Resources. Contact him at david.moreno@fortworthreport.org or @davidmreports.At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.