Allen County commissioners put together a counterproposal for Iola’s funding support of a new Allen County Hospital during a special meeting Thursday afternoon, three hours after city commissioners made their original offer.
City commissioners said they would:
— Commit a maximum of $350,000 from sales tax money Iola collects.
— Review the commitment on an annual basis “to ensure it remains in the best interest of its citizens.”
— Participate in funding with a provision that the county would continue to make annual payments to support Iola’s ambulance service, with the understanding that neither ambulance service would be disrupted.
The county’s counterproposal was for the city’s annual contribution to be specifically one-half of the half-cent sales tax money Iola collects for capital improvements, with a maximum of $350,000.
Sale of bonds would be difficult, maybe unlikely, without an absolute commitment, not one that could be altered any year after review by city commissioners, County Counselor Alan Weber said.
His analysis was confirmed by several others, including Ken Gilpin, president of Community National Bank.
“The city will have to modify the language if you want the bonds to be sold,” Gilpin said.
Weber said he would visit with the county’s bond counsel before developing specific language for the counterproposal.
Meanwhile, County Commission Chairman Gary McIntosh said the ambulance situation — having both county and Iola services — “needs to be solved. To pretend it is not a problem is wrong.”
County commissioners said they would stay with their original decision to put off any further formal ambulance discussions for six months, which they reached July 27 after a week earlier saying they would discontinue an annual payment of $80,000 made to Iola to support its ambulance service. The fund rescission — reversed on July 27 — was made during discussions of ways to reduce a proposed increase in the county’s 2011 budget, and also, according to McIntosh, to bring the ambulance issue to a head.
Commissioners, with supporting comments from several citizens listening to the proceedings, said they didn’t want the ambulance issue to torpedo efforts to reach resolution on funding for a new hospital.
Commissioner Dick Works then reported on conversations he had had at a meeting of the Humboldt Rotary Club. Humboldt residents were willing to support a quarter-cent sales tax for the hospital, he said. “But, they said they wouldn’t support a half-cent sales tax,” Works said, — apparently what would be required if a county tax was the lone tax funding mechanism floated.
County responds to city proposal
