I have a few questions regarding the hospital we are going to build.
Are we voting on a hospital in November or are we voting on a sales tax?
Is there no other funding available?
I use Iola Public Library as an example.
The people of Iola voted down the remodel of the library, but here we are a couple of years later remodeling. What source of money did they find so we did not have to approve it?
If the sales tax does not pass will the county find other funding?
How can the City of Iola just come up with $350,000 a year? Is this going to have to be replaced, and if so, how are they going to do this?
If I remember right, this sales tax of one-half percent was voted on by the people of Iola for road improvements.
Should the city of Iola get involved with the county on this issue? They can’t get along on a much smaller scale as the ambulance issue.
I’m hearing the ambulance issue is coming to a head and the county is going to sue the city to put them out of the ambulance buisness.
Don Erbert
Iola, Kan.
Editor’s note: Library renovation funds came from a Community Development Block Grant and from reserve funds in the city’s and library’s budget. City planners approved a smaller renovation of the library after voters rejected a referendum that would have incorporated a much larger project.
Additional funding for construction and equipping a new hospital would come from Medicare and profits generated by the hospital.
The city has two half-cent sales taxes, one for the city’s general fund, the other for capital improvements, which includes roads and streets. Money to support a new hospital would come from the capital improvements fund.
