The bad news from auditor Dan McArthur was that the Pahrump Senior Center lost $340,665 in 2005.

The good news is, the current senior center board and management have gotten a handle on the budget and have stopped the money hemorrhage.

McArthur told Nye County Commissioners that Bank of America has a deadline of Oct. 23 for payment of principal on a $135,000 line of credit given the Pahrump Senior Center. That deadline was a 60-day extension from a previous deadline.

Acting Pahrump Senior Center Operations Manager Ken Van Heule said the center hopes to secure credit with a bank for the loan at 10 percent interest when that expires. McArthur said the note is currently payable at 12 percent interest. But Van Heule said the current senior center board has been able to reduce the combined senior center debt from $340,000 when it took office last October to $170,000 today.

The $340,665 loss for last year includes $194,331 spent on the design of a new building, McArthur said. That expenditure could have some value if a new senior center is going to be built, he said.

That would still mean a $146,331 loss for 2005. The senior center also has a $60,000 advance from an individual to purchase another building, McArthur said.

"As we moved into 2006 the (county) commission granted between $60,000 and $80,000 to help pay debts Jan. 1 and prior to that, which helped bring the center current with all their debt," McArthur said. But he said the money the county commission gave the senior center wasn't used to pay back the $135,000 line of credit or the $60,000 donation.

In one piece of good news, an individual who passed away recently in Pahrump, Marion Hutchison, bequeathed $19,000 to the senior center, McArthur said. Nye County Budget Director Pam Webster recommended that money be put into a reserve for fixing things like bus engines.

With the dire financial news and Mark Fiorentino, senior vice-president of government affairs for the Focus Property Group, sitting in the audience, Eastley quipped, "Everybody look at Focus. I'm kidding, that's a joke."

Focus Group has a major development agreement for up to 5,800 homes being negotiated with the county, in return for some concessions. The company has donated to various causes around town.

McArthur, however, held out a ray of hope for the senior center.

"For the period Jan. 1, 2006, to June 30, 2006, I did look at the records, and during that period the center had a positive cash flow, meaning the money you gave to the center was used to pay off debt and the current operations had enough revenue to pay for operations."

Nye County provided $60,000 to the senior center to pay off debts and $20,000 to fund McArthur's audit. The Pahrump Senior Center operations were enough to pay ordinary, day-to-day expenses during the first half of this year.

Total income of $36,203 per month in the first six months of this year is barely enough to pay the $35,939 in monthly expenses, according to McArthur's figures. However, in 2005 the auditor's figures showed $381,610 in total revenues but $722,275 in expenses. The 2005 loss was a major increase from $48,374 in losses for the 2004 calendar year.

McArthur complimented the current senior center administration.

"The board that exists, the change in management, they've made significant improvements in the operation of the center to the point that if you look at the projections placed here now, they've also put a considerable, personal time and volunteer time to make that work."

McArthur urged Nye County to monitor the senior center's budget in light of their $10,000 per month subsidy.

Audience member Jim Petell, however, noted the senior center will be hiring Walt Kuver as a business manager for $25,050 per year. Commissioner Patricia Cox said Kuver volunteered lots of hours last year and should be compensated. Commissioner Candice Trummell also thought Kuver should continue providing financial advice.

"It will save the county and the senior center a lot of money to have competent financial planning rather than trying to resolve it afterwards when things go awry," Trummell said.

Van Heule said the Pahrump Senior Center doesn't have a director. That job was split into two positions, a business manager and an operations manager. Van Heule said he's working without pay.

The sources of revenue for the senior center this calendar year include an estimated $205,272 in Division of Aging Services and transportation grants; $120,000 from Nye County; $56,100 from nutrition meal donations; $25,540 in transportation fees; $17,520 in donations and dues; and $10,000 from fundraisers.

Payroll costs amount to $208,440 of the expenses, with $66,612 of that in transportation, $52,948 in administration, $52,884 in the kitchen and the remainder in payroll taxes. Debt service is $46,066 this year, vehicle fuel and maintenance $39,235, food purchases $33,124 and utilities $29,522 among other costs, according to the audit report.