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The Girard Medical Center Foundation is looking for help to fund a new imaging system, and said it has found a a way area residents can donate to the cause and get some money back in return.
GMC Foundation officials said anyone who donates toward the new $297,000 Picture Archival Communication system (PACs) is eligible to receive a 70 percent state tax credit from the Kansas Department of Commerce.
According to Executive Director of the Foundation Melanie Cumoletti, a person who makes a new gift to the Foundation designated to the PACs receives 70 percent in tax credits that directly reduces their Kansas State tax liability. For example, for a $1,000 gift to the Foundation, the donor would receive $700 in tax credit.
However, donors will receive 90 percent of the full value of the credit for the 2010 tax year, which Cumoletti said she thinks is part of a budget-balancing effort by the Legislature. Department of Commerce officials were not available for comment at press time.
To translate the credits, for a $1,000 gift the donor would receive $630 in state tax credit.
That means, for example, that a person who owes $630 in state taxes wouldn’t have to pay anything to the state.
The credits are also refundable, so if someone’s tax liability was less than what they received in credits, then they would be reimbursed for the difference.
The remaining percent that can’t be claimed on state taxes can be claimed as a deduction at the federal level if taxes are itemized.
“If you give ($1,000 to the Foundation) and you only owe $500 in state taxes, you would get a refund of $130,” Cumoletti said.
The credits, which can be claimed for the 2010 tax year, are part of a capital campaign that began three years ago with the goal of raising $2.5 million for equipment and renovations over the next five years.
Cumoletti said donating toward the PACs is like giving money to the GMC Foundation rather than paying taxes directly to the state.
“It’s like allocating your tax dollars to a local charity,” Cumoletti said.
The PACS takes radiology film and turns it into digital pictures, which allows physicians and off-site specialists to access the images almost instantly, rather than wait for the actual pictures to arrive from the lab by mail. So far the Foundation has raised about $187,000 for the PACS.
Hospital CEO Kenny Boyd said PACs will provide physicians with “a great tool” to assist in treating their patients.
The Girard Medical Center Foundation is looking for help to fund a new imaging system, and said it has found a a way area residents can donate to the cause and get some money back in return.
GMC Foundation officials said anyone who donates toward the new $297,000 Picture Archival Communication system (PACs) is eligible to receive a 70 percent state tax credit from the Kansas Department of Commerce.
According to Executive Director of the Foundation Melanie Cumoletti, a person who makes a new gift to the Foundation designated to the PACs receives 70 percent in tax credits that directly reduces their Kansas State tax liability. For example, for a $1,000 gift to the Foundation, the donor would receive $700 in tax credit.
However, donors will receive 90 percent of the full value of the credit for the 2010 tax year, which Cumoletti said she thinks is part of a budget-balancing effort by the Legislature. Department of Commerce officials were not available for comment at press time.
To translate the credits, for a $1,000 gift the donor would receive $630 in state tax credit.
That means, for example, that a person who owes $630 in state taxes wouldn’t have to pay anything to the state.
The credits are also refundable, so if someone’s tax liability was less than what they received in credits, then they would be reimbursed for the difference.
The remaining percent that can’t be claimed on state taxes can be claimed as a deduction at the federal level if taxes are itemized.
“If you give ($1,000 to the Foundation) and you only owe $500 in state taxes, you would get a refund of $130,” Cumoletti said.
The credits, which can be claimed for the 2010 tax year, are part of a capital campaign that began three years ago with the goal of raising $2.5 million for equipment and renovations over the next five years.
Cumoletti said donating toward the PACs is like giving money to the GMC Foundation rather than paying taxes directly to the state.
“It’s like allocating your tax dollars to a local charity,” Cumoletti said.
The PACS takes radiology film and turns it into digital pictures, which allows physicians and off-site specialists to access the images almost instantly, rather than wait for the actual pictures to arrive from the lab by mail. So far the Foundation has raised about $187,000 for the PACS.
Hospital CEO Kenny Boyd said PACs will provide physicians with “a great tool” to assist in treating their patients.
“By ensuring all of our radiology images are digital, we are allowing physicians to securely pull up images and corresponding Radiologist interpretations anywhere there is a computer,” Boyd said.
“This, in turn, decreases diagnostic times and allows us to begin appropriate treatment for patients more quickly.”
Cumoletti said the Foundation so far has raised about $1.9 million.
“We’re doing well and the community has been very, very supportive of the hospital,” she said.
“They’re excited about the construction we’re doing and that we’re able to do it during this economic downturn.
“But we still have a ways to go.”
