The head of the Phoenix Center told state legislators the taxpayer-funded drug treatment operation is stable despite recent strife on its board, securing $6.2 million in the state budget it will use to build the youth treatment center residents have begged for.

An intensive outpatient program kicks off for adolescents this month, while the state money will help build a new inpatient program with a price tag of about $8 million, said Linda Doud, interim executive director.

The Phoenix Center will generate additional start-up funding by refinancing the debt on its existing building, a move Doud said was prompted by inquiries from The Greenville News concerning the $1.8 million it keeps in excess cash and reserve funds.

Doud has said the amount is "fiscally responsible" given the fluctuations in the center's funding, though some Greenville County Council members questioned the excess as The Phoenix Center was seeking more public money for adolescent treatment.

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At issue is what public officials and residents say is a festering and long-ignored drug problem in Greenville County -- particularly among adolescents -- that rates worse than the national average and packs the local detention center.

A county task force has been formed to recommend improvements to The Phoenix Center, seek better communication among all local treatment centers and develop preliminary plans to help the county do a better job of curbing drug and alcohol use in general.

Councilwoman Lottie Gibson has opposed spending $24 million of taxpayer money on an ongoing detention center expansion because she said it neglects the root problem of as many as 80 percent of the inmates.

In landing the state appropriation, Doud made the argument that The Phoenix Center should remain the county's centerpiece and moved to cement the center's taxpayer funding.

Turf wars

Before breaking ground on the new adolescent center, Doud said she wants to meet with community partners, including some with which the center has clashed in recent years.

"Given what's happened in the past, we really want to make sure that this is a community effort," she said, naming the Department of Juvenile Justice, the local Drug Court and the school district, among others.

But Doud also criticized the county task force studying drug treatment, on which she sits, because she said private providers would like a slice of the center's public funding, making their presence in the group a "conflict of interest."

Asked if the task force should also be without Phoenix representatives, she said, "It's our money."

County Council Chairman Butch Kirven said there's no conflict on the task force because it's not a decision-making body. Its job, he said, is to review, analyze and make recommendations about drug treatment.

Bernie Annor, assistant to the county administrator, said in a May report that local drug treatment centers communicate poorly with one another, making it necessary to "get our house in order" before new treatment options can be pursued.

Charles Crite, client service supervisor with Holmesview Center, a residential facility for those 16 and older, said turf wars keep the county's agencies from working together.

"If we can break down the walls and boundaries of competition and territories, we would have much more of a continuum of care," Crite said, noting that he doesn't compete with The Phoenix Center because his services are different.

Disputes cooling

Doud's push to expand The Phoenix Center follows years of reform and, more recently, some disputes over transparency and financial oversight at the public agency.

Board member Tom Inman, a former editorial page editor of The Greenville News, has been critical of others on the board, saying they have shirked their duties and attempted to make decisions behind closed doors.

He said former executive director Kat Rice ran a troubled work environment and withheld information from board members, including details of employee lawsuits.

Rice said Inman's accusations were unsubstantiated and had "the feel of harassment."

She resigned, telling the board, "I feel I have had enough," according to minutes of the meeting.

At a board meeting in May, Chairman Steven Parrish defended a move to name Doud the permanent executive director in an executive session. Inman and a Columbia attorney on open meetings issues said it violated the state's open meetings law.

Doud declined the appointment because she said the board's actions made her uncomfortable.

County Council has ousted Parrish and added two newcomers to the center's board, where Doud said the atmosphere has taken a positive turn.

Board members elected Paul Keck as the new chairman.

Meanwhile, the pending juvenile treatment center is designed to be self-supporting once the program is under way, and will be a primarily Medicaid-funded facility.

She plans to offer the legal maximum of 16 beds.

One option, Doud said, would be to renovate an old school building for the outpatient program and build next to it for the residential program. Regardless, the new center won't be near the existing Phoenix Center building on Cleveland Street, where services including detoxification, outpatient treatment and DUI recovery are offered.

Reserves, cash defended

One way The Phoenix Center will help fund the new project is by refinancing its building debt.

Doud said the issue arose because The News inquired about the reserves and excess cash kept by the center, which receives local, state and federal tax dollars.

Doud said there's about $365,000 in excess operating cash plus $1.4 million in a separate reserve fund, nearly $1 million of which is designated as collateral for the mortgage.

After the newspaper asked if that much collateral was justified, Doud said she asked local banks and discovered the center no longer needs that much.

It now plans to refinance and use the savings to help fund the new adolescent program.

That money aside, Kirven has said the amount of excess cash and reserves raised questions, given the public agency's $6 million annual budget, but that he would withhold judgment until the county task force produces its results this fall.

"We need to shine a lot of light on this whole thing," he said.

Councilman Scott Case, a CPA, said the current situation is preferable to The Phoenix Center's woes years ago when it was talking about cuts in service and layoffs.

That the center has "apparently sufficient reserves" is a "very positive thing," Case said.

Doud said public agencies are advised to keep extra cash on hand equal to at least two months' worth of expenses. Case noted that county government keeps three months' worth in reserve.

Current expenses are between $150,000 and $200,000 a month, Doud said.

Aside from the nearly $1 million in debt collateral, there's about $500,000 in reserve fund money -- currently held in investments -- that the center could liquidate if it needed the money, Doud said.

She pointed to a scare earlier this year, when it appeared there would be a "major shortfall" in state liquor tax money. Such a shortfall, she said, "could eat up the whole reserve that we have, the $500,000."

Cautious supportCitizens and treatment officials made clear at a public hearing earlier this year that adolescents need help the most, with thousands of abusers missing out on treatment.

"Why should we pay for them to be down there at the detention center when they need to be in a treatment center?" Gibson said, noting the ongoing needs in drug and alcohol treatment.

A $60,000 United Way grant is helping pay for a new "intensive outpatient" program for youth scheduled to begin this month, where abusers ages 12 to 17 will be able to get treatment for $28 an hour, Annor's study said.

There's still no residential facility aimed at adolescents in the county, he said.

Nearly 82 percent of The Phoenix Center's $6 million budget comes from federal, state and county sources, although most of it is Medicaid money paid for services, Doud said.

About 13 percent comes from clients. Grants and donations make up the rest of the budget.

Kirven said County Council is keeping open its option of designating another local agency for substance abuse treatment, which means The Phoenix Center's taxpayer funding could go elsewhere. He said he supported the state money for the new facility, although it doesn't preclude a sober look at drug treatment countywide.