“At A Crisis Point”

By Gordon HopkinsBlue Rivers Area Agency on Aging (BRAAA) is struggling with a severe cash flow problem resulting from unpaid reimbursements from the Nebraska Department of Transportation (NDOT), which date back nine months. Last week, Jefferson County Commissioner Mark Schoenrock, who also serves on the BRAAA board, attended a meeting in Beatrice with Senators Myron Dorn (R-District 30) and Tom Brandt (R-District 32). Schoenrock gave an update to his fellow commissioners the following day, Tuesday, September 24, 2024, “The thing that is concerning to us, of course, we now are nine months behind on our reimbursements, and we’re running out of options to transfer money between our accounts, to keep our busses running, serving our five county area. So, we’re probably at critical mode right now.”Among the various services BRAAA provides in transportation for the elderly.“Right now, we’re dealing with our January reimbursements in September,” said Schoenrock. “What we’ve been able to do is maintain our cash flow and keep our busses running, because we’ve been pulling money from other accounts to put money into that bus account, because we’re not getting the reimbursements for the bus account like we need to. But, we’re running out of options.”Schoenrock wanted to emphasize, “There are a lot of citizens, primarily elderly people and disabled people, in the five counties that we serve in southeast Nebraska that really depend on that bus service. You know, if we have to stop the bus service, it’s going to affect a lot of people”Schoenrock said, “Both Senator Brandt and Senator Dorn aware of the situation, and we have offered to personally go to Lincoln to meet with the people there, up to and including the director of NDOT, the director of the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) and, if need be, the governor.”The commissioner noted the problem is not just impacting BRAAA but all Area Agencies on Aging throughout Nebraska.According to Schoenrock, the delay in reimbursements is the result of continuing requests for additional information from an external auditing firm hired by NDOT before payments will be approved, “I guess I’ll just be very frank. The auditors are running the show, and management is not stepping up. They’re just let the auditors run amok.”“It’s gotten to the point of being ridiculous. We go back and forth, back and forth, back and forth,” said Schoenrock. “The management at NDOT is not stepping up to address the auditor’s requirements. The auditors don’t manage the department. Management manages the department. That’s the that’s the real cause.”“It is pretty much at a crisis point right now,” added Schoenrock.

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