Measure D: After Friday Ballots for May 1 Should be Dropped Off, Not Mailed

Ballots for the Measure D parcel tax election in the San Gorgonio Memorial Health Care District should be dropped off after Friday April 27 - not mailed - to ensure they will be counted with other ballots on May 1, the Registrar of Voters announced Thursday.

in Banning, Beaumont, Cabazon, Cherry Valley and Calimesa are being asked to extend or reject an existing parcel tax that will expire June 30.

"To ensure that ballots reach election officials in time to be counted in Tuesday’s election (May 1), voters should not return their ballots by mail after Friday (April 27)," the registrar's announcement stated.

After Friday, the registrar urged, voters should return ballots to the drop-off box at the San Gorgonio Memorial Health Care District Office, 600 N. Highland Springs Ave. in Banning, or at the 24-hour drop-box out front of the Registrar of Voters office, 2724 Gateway Drive in Riverside.

"The special mail-ballot election includes voters in the San Gorgonio Memorial Health Care District," the registrar's announcement said. "The May 1 election is being conducted completely by mail ballot, so there are no established polling places.

"Ballots must reach the registrar by 8 p.m. on Election Day to be counted.  Ballots with postmarks before the deadline are not accepted and cannot be counted if they reach the registrar’s office after the 8 p.m. deadline on Tuesday."

As of Monday April 23, an estimated 33,600 vote-by-mail ballots had been sent to voters, and 10,300 had been returned, Registrar of Voters Kari Verjil said. Verjil urged every eligible voter to cast a ballot in the election.

Voters in the San Gorgonio Memorial Health Care District approved a special parcel tax of $38 per year in an election in November 2001, for a 10 year period that began July 1, 2002, and ends June 30, 2012.

The district wants to extend the "Emergency Healthcare Services Tax" for another 10-year period, beginning July 1, 2012, "to provide for the continued operation and maintenance by the District of an Emergency Department and its associated services on a twenty-four hour basis" at , according to Measure D literature.

The measure stipulates:

"The Emergency Healthcare Services Tax shall be levied each year for a ten-year period, commencing July 1, 2012, on all taxable parcels of property, improved or unimproved, within the boundaries of the District, at the maximum rate of $49.00 per parcel per year.

"Provided, however, such rate shall be increased annually by the most recent Consumer Price Index for Los Angeles-Riverside-Orange County, California, published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, United States Department of Labor for all items. The annual automatic increase to the maximum special parcel tax rate shall commence on July 1, 2013, and shall be imposed each July 1 thereafter."

An argument in favor of the measure appears above the names of San Gorgonio Memorial emergency physician Ludwig Cibelli, M.D., retired San Gorgonio Memorial Hospital nursing director Dorothy Ellis, RN,  Banning council member Bob Botts, Banning business owner Estelle Lewis, and Beaumont Electric owner Jim Love.

No argument against Measure D was submitted before a deadline in February, and no argument against the measure is included in literature mailed by the Riverside County Registrar of Voters.