Veterinary board holds line on license fees, despite debt

NASHVILLE, TENN. — Despite a reported debt of more than $130,000 for the 2006 fiscal year, the Tennessee Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners will not be raising fees.

The Tennessee Department of Health reported that six of the state's 29 health-related boards ended the fiscal year (on June 30) in the red, with a combined debt of $254,375.

The veterinary board's debt of $130,209.78 was the largest of the six, almost double that of the next most-indebted board, the osteopathic licensing board, according to the report.

Health department spokeswoman Sophie Moery says most of the veterinary board's deficit is the result of steadily rising costs of investigating complaints and disciplining licensees.

The board faced a 27 percent increase in the cost of investigations between 2004 and 2005, and an additional 61 percent increase from 2005 to 2006, while the Office of General Counsel also raised fees 27 percent from 2004 to 2005 and another 11 percent from 2005 to 2006, says Moery.

There were 48 disciplinary actions through the 2005 and 2006 calendar years, Moery says.

State law requires that each board be self-sufficient, thus prohibiting a loan or reallocating funds from more profitable boards.

The veterinary board's deficit at the end of 2006 actually improved by more than $25,000 from the previous year, when the reported debt was $157,864. The board considered increasing licensing fees to offset the debt, Moery says, but decided against that last spring.

"As of April 19, 2006, the board chose not to move forward with fee increases. They have closed with an annual surplus for the last three fiscal years, so they are slowly decreasing their cumulative deficit," Moery says.