Hospital staff at Modoc Medical Center and Mayers Memorial Hospital are searching for needed funds to keep them operating and hope to obtain those monies through the ballot box. In addition, Modoc Medical Center should learn Tuesday whether residents in Modoc County will agree to a $195 a year parcel tax which, supporters say, will raise $3.1 million annually.
The residents there are voting my mail this month about increasing their taxes, with voting ending on Tuesday. Also on the ballot is the proposal to form an independent healthcare district to run the hospital, which is now under the direction of the county board of supervisors. The ballot propositions are Measures Q and R, which must pass for either to take effect.
The directors of the Mayers Memorial Hospital District have placed Measure D on the ballot to be voted on Nov. 2. The measure is asking for authorization by the district to issue up to $14 million in bonds at legal interest rates, with a Citizens’ Oversight Committee, annual audits, and with no funds used for administrator salaries.
Travis Lakey, director of finance for the district, has estimated that the tax levied on taxable real property to repay the bonds over their term would not exceed $50 per year per $100,000 of assessed value.
This calculation, however, is an estimate only and is not binding upon the district.
If two-thirds do not approve Measure D of the qualified electors voting on the measure, the district will not be authorized to issue these general obligation bonds.
Passage of the measure would allow the district to start Phase I of a multiphase Master Facility Plan for Mayers over the next 20-30 years. Phase I could include money spent on the Fall River Mills campus for a seismic wall required by the state, roof and air/heating units, new construction of the 1953 section, which includes the admitting area, imaging, lobby, and lab departments, and upgrading internet technology.