LETTER: Please vote ‘yes’ on referendum

To the Editor:

April 3 is just around the corner. Among the items on which you will be asked to vote is the referendum question: “Should St. Croix County continue to operate the St. Croix County Nursing Home in New Richmond if property tax dollars are needed to partially fund its operation?”

Just how much will that partial levy support be? Approximately 1.2 percent of $27,847,925.00, or $333,002.00 for the current budget year.

Please note: the nursing home’s draw on the levy in 2008, when a similar referendum question was on the ballot, was in the vicinity of $793,090. At that time citizens in every single one of our county’s 40 reporting units voted — by no less than a 2:1 margin — to continue supporting with property tax dollars our five-star rated nursing home facility. The most recently projected levy draw ($333,002.00) needed to partially support our county run nursing home, will be less than half of what it was in 2008.

In out-of-pocket dollars, try this: divide the $333,002.00 by 46,411 (the number of real estate tax parcels which pay into the county levy); next, divide that quotient by 58 (the average resident census in our nursing home during the month of February, 2012); finally, divide that quotient by 365 days. This amount, then — $ 0.0003389 — is an approximation of what it will cost each of us to care for one nursing home resident per day during the current fiscal year.

Is it asking too much to make that kind of sacrifice to help those in our nursing home who are no longer able to help themselves?

In conclusion, if we factor in the 202 jobs and attendant economic impact of $12,000,000 associated with the operation of our county nursing home, it seems to make unequivocal sense to keep that facility open. Please vote yes!

Buzz Marzolf

Supervisor 12 (outgoing)

St. Croix County Board

Tags: letters to the editor, opinion