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Hospital board to discuss extending parcel tax

The Sonoma Valley Health Care District board will be seeking a new parcel tax to replace the existing tax that sunsets in 2012. The issue will be discussed during the board’s regularly scheduled meeting on Thursday, Oct. 6, at 6 p.m. in the Community Meeting Room, 177 First St. W.

According to the board’s agenda, which came out Monday afternoon, the board will discuss placing the measure on the March 6, 2012 ballot. It would extend the existing $195 parcel tax for another five years, until 2017.

In 2007, district residents overwhelmingly supported the parcel tax, which passed with 74.1 percent of the vote. The current parcel tax brings in $2.8 million annually, about 5.5 percent of the hospital’s annual $51.7 million net revenue. Money from the tax supports general operations at Sonoma Valley Hospital.

In the agenda, the hospital board has said the parcel tax is “necessary to provide financial stability.” The resolution also points out that Sonoma Valley Hospital is in a much better place economically after forming strategic partnerships with Marin General Hospital, which will help the hospital streamline its finances; and Prima Medical Foundation, which helps attract primary care physicians to the area.

The meeting on Thursday is open to the public.