Voters to decide on Quincy hospital levy, other measures

QUINCY — Voters in the Quincy hospital district will be asked to approve or reject a one-year, $875,000 maintenance and operations levy in a special election Feb. 11.

As a revenue measure, the levy requires a 60 percent yes vote to pass, according to election officials at the Grant County Auditor’s Office. Quincy Valley Medical Center board chair Randy Zolman said hospital M&O levies are limited to one year by state law.

If the levy is approved, property owners would pay a forecast amount of 17.5 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value. The owner of a house valued at $200,000 would pay $35; the owner of property worth $250,000 would pay $43.70.

Voters approved a levy in 2018, Zolman said, and narrowly rejected one in November 2019.

Zolman said hospital commissioners are asking for a levy because it costs more to provide care than the Quincy hospital receives in reimbursement. Levy funding allows the hospital to provide additional services, in some cases with higher reimbursement, he said.

The hospital’s financial condition improved in 2019, Zolman said, with QVMC finishing the year with a profit of about $400,000. “That’s even without the levy money that we got last year,” he said.

Revenue shortfalls in prior years had forced the hospital district to rely on interest-bearing warrants with Grant County. Warrants are used by junior taxing districts when they don’t have enough cash on hand to meet their obligations. The district essentially borrows money from Grant County to pay the bills, then pays the county back with interest.

As of December, the district’s warrant balance was about $3.3 million, Zolman said.

Hospital commissioners have entered into an agreement with Samaritan Healthcare in Moses Lake that will allow QVMC to add personnel and services while sharing some of the costs.

Port of Quincy officials are working with the health district commissioners on a plan to construct a new hospital. “The port is working with us to build the first phase,” Zolman said. The port would own the building and hospital officials would lease the space, he said.

The Feb. 11 election also includes a property tax levy proposal from Grant County Hospital District No. 5, which operates Mattawa Community Health Clinic. If approved, the property tax collection rate would be raised to 68 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value.

The Feb. 11 ballot also includes maintenance and enrichment program levy proposals in the Almira, Coulee-Hartline and Wilson Creek school districts.

Cheryl Schweizer can be reached via email at [email protected].