Delegation to consider giving $1M back to state

LACONIA — The Belknap County Delegation will meet Thursday to consider giving $1.1 million back to the state of New Hampshire.

The state would use the money to get federal matching funds to help pay for a program that assists regional efforts to deal with mental health and substance abuse.

In Belknap County, that program helps with criminal justice reform efforts that seek to divert nonviolent offenders to treatment rather than incarceration when appropriate.

County Commission Chairman Dave DeVoy said the commission is recommending the delegation return to the state Health and Human Services Department $1.1 million in proportionate share incentive adjustment, or ProShare payments, which are made to county nursing facilities to fund unreimbursed costs.

DeVoy said funding for the county’s nursing facility will remain sufficient even with the return of a portion of the money received through ProShare.

“We have a budget adequate to fund the nursing home,” he said. “Every year we have to cover a loss of about $1 million in taking care of people. Like running the jail, there is a cost.”

Through a new formula assessing need, the county received $3.9 million of ProShare money this year, or about three times more than what it received the previous year.

DeVoy also said that returning $1.1 million in ProShare funds will not cause a tax increase.

“It’s a win-win for everybody,” DeVoy said.

He said the nursing home has been operating successfully and is ranked No. 5 out of 70 such facilities statewide in a U.S. News and World Report survey.