Moses Lake doubles health district payment

MOSES LAKE - Moses Lake doubled the city's payment to the Grant County Health District next year, resulting in an annual contribution of about $40,700.

City council opted to raise the payment from $1 to $2 per person based upon the latest official population count, which the 2010 U.S. Census places at 20,366.

"When I started working here the city was contributing 50 cents per capita and that continued up until about 2004," said City Manager Joe Gavinski, who has been a Moses Lake city employee since 1979 when the population was around 10,000.

In 2005 the city decided to double the contribution to a dollar per person, Gavinski said, a payment which has remained in place despite a number of increase requests.

Councilman Dick Deane credited the health district with providing numerous services to local communities in addition to those required under state law, including outreach, testing and education programs and projects.

But he pointed out the city's pockets are only so deep and several other groups - from the Grant County Economic Development Council to the Moses Lake Business Association - have requested the city boost its contributions next year in light of a tough economic outlook.

"(The health district) is certainly a great cause and it affects each one of us, but do we really have the $40,000 to go into this?" Deane asked.

Councilman David Curnel, who first proposed doubling funding for the health district in October, countered that in the years he's been on council the city has increased the money given to other groups on several occasions, while the health district payment has stayed stagnant for the past six years.

"As I mentioned once before, we have an inordinate amount of people in Moses Lake compared to the rest of the county, so we actually receive more services from the Grant County Health District than some of these surrounding communities," Curnel said.

Ephrata recently discussed lowering their health district payment from $2 to $1, while Quincy and George have agreed to another year of contributing $2 per person. Most other Grant County cities choose to contribute around $1 per person.

Councilwoman Karen Liebrecht remarked the city could give $1.50 per resident instead of doubling the payment, but her motion failed for lack of a second.

"You can't put a price on health," said Councilman Brent Reese. "The health district, if it dries up and goes away, there's going to be a problem. I think $2 per resident is what we should be giving. We need to keep the health district healthy."

With the exception of Councilman Richard Pierce, who was absent, council members unanimously voted to approve Curnel's motion to contribute $2 per person to the health district.