Ballots for hospital’s special election going out July 31
By Russ Pankonin
Grant Tribune-Sentinel
Voters in Perkins County will decide whether or not to reinstate a 3.5-cent levy for hospital operations in a special election requested by the Perkins County Health Services (PCHS) board.
The special election will be conducted by mail, with ballots to be mailed to county voters on Monday, July 31.
County Clerk Rita Long, who also serves as election commissioner, said completed ballots can either be mailed back to her office or dropped off. The deadline for return is 7 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 15.
She said this is only the second mail-in election she has conducted since taking office. The other occurred in 2007 for levy authority for cemetery, fire and hospital districts in the county.
PCHS is asking voters to
reinstate a levy of 3.5 cents per $100 of valuation for general operations over the next five budget years, beginning with the 2018-2019 budget.
The measure was on the General Election ballot in November 2016 and failed to pass. The vote was 609 for and 783 against the levy authority request.
Jim LeBrun, PCHS president and CEO, has been meeting with organizations and individuals to provide information on the levy and its uses.
LeBrun said his role does not allow him to lobby in favor of the levy. Instead, he said he’s simply been providing people with information on which to base their decision on how to vote.
Levy dates back to 1980s
Since the early 1980s, the hospital has collected a property tax levy for the general operation of the hospital.
Prior to 1998, the levy was 7 cents per $100 of valuation. Most recently, the levy was 3.5 cents per $100 of valuation.
After the hospital district was formed in 1993, the district was required to get voter approval for levy authority every five years.
The current levy authority expires after the upcoming 2017-18 budget year.
If voters do not approve another extension in the August election, PCHS will lose tax support of approximately $465,000 for the 2018-19 budget year.
Levy process changes
In 1998, the Legislature chopped the levy authority of hospital districts in half to 3.5 cents, and then, only by voter approval.
The Legislature placed the authority for the other 3.5 cents with the county, as part of the county’s overall levy.
Since that time, Perkins County commissioners have opted not to assess the 3.5 cents for the hospital as part of the county budget.
As a result, the district sought and has received the override levy authority from voters up until the November General Election.
Since 2000, PCHS has received a levy varying from 2.5 to 3.48 cents per $100 of valuation.
After the PCHS board voted to seek a special election, Board Chair Mike Mosel said he believed voters had a misconception the tax levy would be used to help pay for the hospital’s $15.4 million expansion and renovation project.
Mosel noted the project will be paid for with cash flow from hospital operations and not funds from the tax levy.
Derick Lorentz, PCHS vice president of finance and operations, said the property tax money is used to purchase equipment and other capital upgrades for the facility.
All three noted the hospital is not asking for any more additional tax funds than they have already been receiving. The final tax amount may vary slightly since it’s based on assessed property valuations.
LeBrun felt the required ballot language created a misconception the hospital was asking for more or new dollars than in the past.
The required language read: “Shall the Perkins County Hospital District be allowed to levy a property tax not to exceed 3.5000 cents per one hundred dollars of taxable valuation in excess of the limits prescribed by law until the fiscal year 2022-23 for the purposes of general operations?”
LeBrun believed the wording “in excess of the limits prescribed by law” gave voters the impression they were approving more money for the hospital than previously requested.
The same language will appear on the special election ballot being mailed out next week.
Long said her office will remain open until 6 p.m. Friday, Aug. 4 to allow people to register to vote in the special election.
A vote of one more than 50 percent of the votes received will be required for the measure to pass.
PCHS will be responsible for the cost of the election, estimated by Long at around $8,000.