I have been in this Valley for 25 years. My business has been here since the early 1950s. We have supported local projects, not-for-profits, veterans organizations, the local schools, law enforcement and the hospital throughout those years.
In 2002 and 2007 we supported the parcel tax for the hospital. We did not support the tax extension in 2012!
We also did not support the plan to build a new wing needed to replace the old wing because it was not seismically safe and the state would not allow retrofitting.
Here we are today, with the hospital district asking for yet another five-year extension of the parcel tax. Just five more years is all we need! The previous parcel tax measures were “all that was needed for five years,” yet we are now expected to continue this funding mechanism for “just another five years.” Well I don’t buy it!
The district says it needs this tax extension to fund an anticipated shortfall in federal supplemental payments of $1 million year beginning 2018. If my math serves me right that would be $4 million over the term of this tax extension. In the same justification document the tax revenue generated would amount to $3.8 million/year or $19 million over five years. Where will the other $15 million be spent?
The Measure states that, “No portion of the tax would be spent on capital improvements, other than improvements made in connection with day-to-day operational needs of the District”... If I interpret that correctly, it won’t be spent constructing buildings but it could be spent on a new MRI or CAT scan equipment. It further states, “Measure E would also raise the District’s spending limit during the first year the parcel tax is levied to allow the District to spend the proceeds of the tax for these purposes.“ I ask, what are “these purposes”?
As an employer of 35 people, more than half of which live in the Valley, I certainly support having a hospital and emergency room in close proximity. What I cannot support is using the threat emergency care would not be continued if this tax is not extended. I consider it a threat because the need doesn’t justify the cost! The need may be $4 million, not $19 million requested, according to the district numbers.
In the business world, noncompetitive businesses do not survive. The first thing a declining business does is find ways to lower its costs. Failing that, they review shedding non-profitable products or services. We shouldn’t live beyond our means.
It is apparent, additional revenue is needed to sustain the current level of services at Sonoma Valley Hospital. If the community wants this level of service to continue, perhaps we should look to a permanent source of tax revenue rather than the five-year cry for a tax increase and extension that is becoming permanent!
It’s for these reasons I cannot support this “band aid” approach to providing health care services in Sonoma Valley.
Robert Piazza is president and CEO of Price Pump and serves as judge advocate with the Sonoma Veterans of Foreign Wars post 1943.
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