Phoebe Nears $1M in Voluntary Payments in Lieu of Taxes
Thursday, February 6th, 2014
Phoebe Putney Health System paid almost $1 million in total payments made in lieu of taxes made for Phoebe North as well as other properties in 2013, officials say.
In December, Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital made a payment of $628,653 to the tax director of Dougherty County under the Voluntary Payment in Lieu of Taxes, or VPILOT, program, officials said Wednesday, to make up for the lost ad valorem taxes when Phoebe North — formerly Palmyra Medical Center — was acquired by the Hospital Authority of Albany-Dougherty County and subsequently taken off the tax rolls.
In addition, Phoebe officials say, voluntary payments have been made over several years on a number of properties the health system owns that are not being used for medical purposes. For the 92 acres that applies to in Dougherty County, Phoebe made a payment in December of $274,138 in property taxes. For the properties in other counties, $2,006 was paid to the city of Dawson, $7,451 went to Terrell County, $2,464 was paid to the city of Americus, Sumter County received $21,836, the city of Pelham got $923 and Mitchell County was given a payment of $813.
