Crime & Safety

MEASURE D: San Gorgonio Memorial Health Care District Touts Parcel Tax

The district is helping administer the election, which asks voters whether to extend an existing parcel tax that will expire June 30, by including cover letters mailed out with copies of Measure D and ballots in the mail-only special election.

The San Gorgonio Memorial Health Care District is helping administer the Measure D election asking voters to approve or deny a 10-year annual parcel tax of $49, which the district portrays as extension of an existing tax that will expire June 30.

The special mail ballot election is scheduled May 1 and ballots have already been sent to some voters in the district, which includes Banning, Beaumont, Cabazon, Cherry Valley, and a portion of Calimesa.

Voters in the 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.

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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 ballot and measure mailings, to be sent out between April 2 and April 21, include cover letters addressed to voters and signed by Mark Turner, chief executive officer of San Gorgonio Memorial Hospital and the health care district.

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"Dear Voter:

"May 1, 2012 is Election Day and San Gorgonio Memorial Health Care District is asking voters whether to extend the existing voter-approved parcel tax," the letter states. "This is not a new tax. It will provide funds for our area's only Emergency Room."

The rest of the letter focuses on ballot instructions and deadlines.

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 so no argument against the measure is included in literature mailed by the Riverside County Registrar of Voters.

A calendar for the May 1 election was posted on the registrar's website Feb. 3, which included the Feb. 13 deadline for submitting arguments in favor or against the measure.

A notice of the special mail ballot election dated Feb. 7 also included the Feb. 13 deadline for submitting arguments in favor or against the measure, but it was posted on the registrar's website four days after the deadline passed on Feb. 17.

Pdf copies of the district cover letter and the measure are attached to this report.


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