The Hazel Hawkins Hospital Board of Directors is expected to
approve a bond measure today authorizing the county elections
office to send out a mail-in ballot for a property tax initiative
in April.
Hollister – The Hazel Hawkins Hospital Board of Directors is expected to approve a bond measure today authorizing the county elections office to send out a mail-in ballot for a property tax initiative in April.
The mail ballot will ask voters to decide whether to approve a tax to help pay for a $56 million expansion at the hospital, according to the hospital’s chief executive officer. The hospital is hoping at least two-thirds of residents will approve the tax, which would raise about $31.5 million over the next 20 years to finance a total makeover that would include 50,000 square-feet of new facilities, said CEO Ken Underwood.
If the board approves sending out the ballot today, it will be in the mail on April 8 and county residents will have until May 3 to cast their vote, Underwood said.
The bond’s approval will officially kick off a campaign headed by a community committee focused on informing voters of the initiative and soliciting their support. The 28-member committee will send out flyers, call residents and hold public speaking events, Underwood said. The group has been unofficially campaigning for several months, and Underwood said they’ve received a positive response about the tax.
“We sent out a questionnaire to the community two weeks ago asking for input and we got a lot of good feedback,” he said. “I’m impressed – there’s been a lot of good recommendations, which means there’s a lot of people who really care about having a hospital in their community.”
To expand the hospital to a level that can meet the service demands on an ever-increasing population, Underwood said the hospital needs to raise approximately $56 million over the next 20 years. The property tax would add $18 to every $100,000 of assessed property value. That means if someone owns a $600,000 home, the tax would add an additional $108 to their existing property taxes annually.
The hospital also plans to proposition local governments to increase impact fees, which could bring in an additional $21 million, he said. Those fee increases would have to be approved by Hollister and San Juan Bautista city councils, along with the Board of Supervisors. The increase would affect anyone building a new home in the county and would add between $2,100 to $2,300 to the approximately $30,000 in currently charged in impact fees, Underwood said. But that item won’t be brought before any of the boards until the summer, he said.
Hollister Mayor Pauline Valdivia, who is part of the hospital’s campaign committee, believes communicating with the community is one of the most important factors in procuring funding. Volunteers are focusing specifically on Latino voters so they know exactly what the tax will be for, she said.
Valdivia believes the expansion plan is reasonable, and both the impact fees and property tax are reasonable ways to raise the money. The hospital will use the revenue to revamp the emergency room, add a new obstetrics unit, an upgraded laboratory and advanced medical equipment to detect cancer and treat heart patients, among others. Underwood hopes to begin construction on either the emergency room or the obstetrics unit by 2007.
“We need to support our hospital – it’s the only thing we have here in the county,” Valdivia said. “The ER is always packed and we do need the hospital to expand to have more specialty care for the people so they don’t have to go out of town.”
Erin Musgrave covers public safety for the Free Lance. Reach her at 637-5566, ext. 336 or [email protected]
