Americore took a step in the right direction on Wednesday when officials from the company came to an agreement with the City of Pineville. The company paid an undisclosed portion of the water bill in an effort to satisfy some of their debt with the city.

While a non-disclosure agreement between the two prevents us from knowing exactly how much of the bill was paid, Pineville Mayor Scott Madon said the city is “satisfied at this time.”

The payment of the bill at least provides a shimmer of hope that things are moving forward for the newly named Southeastern Kentucky Medical Center. The water will remain on at the hospital, and patients can breathe a sigh of relief.

We will know in the next six months just how committed Americore is to settling at least the water debt with the city.

But, when one door closes another opens. The issue of occupational taxes is still on the table. This money has been taken out of employee paychecks, and the idea of these issues not being communicated to the city is disturbing.

“Somebody is responsible,” said Madon in a previous interview.

Finding out who is responsible for the occupational tax should be similarly as easy as finding out who was responsible for the water bill. There should be documentation explaining all of these factors.

To echo the mayor, someone is responsible. That entity — whether it’s Americore or the “old hospital board” — needs to take accountability for the issue. A move like that would only help further ease the minds of the community and the city as a whole.