Residents of Visalia have just a few more days to decide if they will approve a bond known as Measure H for Kaweah Delta Hospital to build a new earthquake resistant acute care wing.
State law requires that every hospital to be hardened against earthquakes by 2030. As a result, the hospital is asking for more than $300 million in public bond to help pay for the hospital.
Kaweah is putting up over $200 million for the project, its statutory cap. The bond will be paid back in the form of a property tax increase.
Hospital CEO Lindsay Mann says the tax increase is the only reasonable way to pay for the required construction, or they risk losing about 75% of their existing hospital beds.
“We are doing literally everything we can do financial to make this project. And it is at that point, that we as a public entity can as the community to support us,” Mann said.
Over the life of the bond, the average tax will be $48 per $100,000 dollars of property value. Although it will be much higher or lower at certain times.
The vote took a heated turn recently when opponents of the bond measure sent out a strongly worded flier. Mann considers the flier to be misleading saying the opposition group cherry picked their data to exaggerate the size of the tax hike.
Local residents have established a Facebook group to rally resistance to Kaweah. Former Kaweah Delta Board member Byron Riegel accuses the hospital of overburdening local property owners while ignoring other funding.
“Oh, I think lots of things are possible. The hospital can restructure. It has got millions of dollars in properties that are not critical to an acute care hospital,” Riegel says.
Kaweah CEO Mann says the hospital board chose to have the vote now because it is less expensive and would be the only issue voters are considering.
The vote is mail-in ballot only. Of the roughly 57,000 ballots mailed out, about 15,000 have been returned as of Wednesday. Ballots must be postmarked by May 3rd.
The measure must attain a two-thirds majority to pass.
