Voters to decide fate of McKay Memorial levy

SOAP LAKE - Voters in Grant County Hospital District No. 4 will decide in the November general election to approve or reject a one-time, $500,000 levy for a new heating system at McKay Memorial and Rehab.

If approved, the levy would be collected in 2014 only, and property owners would pay about $1.25 per $1,000 of assessed property value, Jennifer Schwartz, board chair, said.

"We want to upgrade or replace our current boiler system," Schwartz said. The boiler is original to the hospital, which was built in 1932. With an 81-year-old piece of equipment, "it's extremely difficult to get parts," Sheila Burts, a McKay employee who's in charge of the "Keep McKay Warm" campaign, said.

Organizers have a Facebook page under the title Keep McKay Warm. It features information on the levy proposal.

By current standards it's an inefficient system, Schwartz said, and Burts estimated the heating system requires about 2,000 gallons of diesel per month during winter months. "Fuel costs just keep rising and rising," Schwartz said.

"Two thousand gallons of diesel is really expensive," Burts said. There are maintenance issues as well, Schwartz said. "It's kind of nickel-and-diming us," she said.

The focus is on a new or at least upgraded boiler, Schwartz said; hospital officials are looking for the most economical solution possible. "We're definitely looking for an economical way" to fix the problem, she said.

"The boiler is the priority. We would like to be able to replace the whole system if it's feasible," Burts said. "Nothing is definite yet."

Schwartz said the board looked at other methods of financing, and a bond is the most cost-effective way to pay for the project, she said.

Because it's a revenue measure, the levy needs 60 percent approval to pass. Ballots will be mailed to voters in mid-October.