By Mike Neas- On August 4th the Sandoval County Commissioners will decide if the Hospital Tax Question will again be asked of the voters in the upcoming November election. This is a very important Ballot Question and Public Comment from now to the election should be encouraged. 480 votes swung the other way on the 2008, 4.25 Hospital mil levy and Sandoval County property tax payers would not have committed to paying over 104 million dollars over an eight year period to one public teaching hospital and one private hospital.
The wording in the tax question itself is arguably responsible for the difference in the 2008 vote count. That question confusingly misrepresented the mil levy duration as not less than 4 and not more than 8 years. The difference being a whopping 52 million dollar additional tax burden and the County Management never even considered the four year possibility when it signed the eight year Sandoval County Health Facilities Agreements.
How long should we supplement the operations of both of these hospitals with more than one million dollars a month of the property tax potential? The hospitals are not available to “…all Sandoval County residents.” as recited in each of their Sandoval County Health Facilities Agreements. Presbyterian Hospital accepts only certain insurances, of which my own Blue Cross Blue Shield is not one. And Presbyterian Health Care has no contract with Sandoval County Regional Medical Center. Can we afford to commit another 104 million dollars over the next 8 years while important Bond Issues fail to pass and County infrastructure and our education system are underfunded?
We now have two modern, well-staffed, medical institutions which are major assets in the future of our County. The hospitals are now established and are important aspects of our Sandoval County health and economic future. The taxpayers have made an important and considerable contribution to a much needed cause. But, we cannot afford another eight years and 104 million dollars to two “most favored” tax money recipients. The money must be spread around. Vote “NO” on the Hospital tax question and vote yes on something else that we need.
These hospitals should not be joined at the hip in a single all or nothing Ballot Question. We might also consider supporting only our public teaching hospital with a 2.125 mil tax levy.