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Hospital board votes to increase taxes

By Meg Olson

The Point Roberts Hospital District has adopted a budget just under a quarter million dollars and will be looking to the taxpayers for over 70 percent.

“Experience around the state has been for fees for service to make up approximately 48 percent of revenues for hospital districts,” said district commissioner Margery Biery at the November 7 public hearing on the proposed budget and associated tax levy. The budget for the new district is counting on $68,000 in patient fees coming into Wellness Clinic coffers. The district can collect up to 75 cents per thousand dollars of assessed valuation. At the November 7 meeting they adopted an initial levy of 68 cents per thousand dollars

Biery explained they had budgeted higher than anticipated amounts in some areas to help the new district take over operation of the Wellness Clinic. “We’ll spend the most amount of money initially during the transition,” she said. The bulk of the budget is a $168,000 contact with Interfaith Community Health. Other significant costs include $12,000 per year for rent, $18,200 to hire a part-time superintendent for the district and $15,300 for legal expenses.

From the audience Henry Rosenthal asked if the district had looked at alternatives to the $425 per hour services of Seattle attorney Bradley Berg. Commissioner Vic Riley said very few attorneys had the experience with public hospital districts and they had interviewed four candidates, finding Berg the most knowledgeable. “We felt he would end up being the least expensive because we could call him and get an answer without paying for hours of research,” Riley said.

One area where the district is poised to need some legal assistance is in how clinic assets and funds are to be transferred over from the Wellness Clinic, now under fire district responsibility and subject to the conditions of the federal grant that got the clinic started. “We can’t do anything with transition funds until we get permission from the federal government so we chose not to include any of that in the budget,” Biery said.

Irene Waters congratulated commissioners on developing a budget that did not take the entire 75 cent levy allowed, which would have taken the bulk of the remaining 79 cents of total taxation all local districts can cumulatively collect. Once the state cap is reached junior districts like the parks and recreation district would have to give up some of their taxing capacity to hospital and fire districts. “There are concerns about that in the community,” Waters said.

“You want to be realistic and on the generous side but you don’t want to take the max just because it’s there,” said commissioner Barbara Bradstock.

Commissioners expect a short meeting December 12 to finalize insurance and to prepare to hire a district superintendent. “We’re basically down to that,” Biery said. “We’re to be congratulated.”