Say no to hand in your pocket

Don Quixote Note: This is a reposting of an Editorial by former Editor Scott Neufeld of the Vernon Daily Courier Oct 26, 2006. It seems timely in view of the claims by the Provincial Govt. that they are putting up the Capital Costs for the Vernon Jubilee Hospital expansion. Perhaps Vernon City Council will take the funding formula to UBCM for discussion again. Last year when it was introduced at UBCM, it was denied a floor vote by the Robert Hobson led resolution screening committee.

B154 HOSPITAL CAPITAL COST FINANCING : THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Provincial Government assume 100% responsibility of capital hospital expenditures for all municipalities in British Columbia and eliminate the hospital property tax imposed on taxpayers outside the Greater Vancouver Regional District area.

NOT ENDORSED BY UBCM
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http://www.dailycourier.ca/

As the Vernon Jubilee Hospital expansion gathers steam there are still many unanswered questions.What will it look like? Will it address the current overcrowding issues?These are among several questions that will be addressed as the InteriorHealth Authority begins designing the facility in the coming months. But the question of who is going to pick up the tab for the estimated $60 million expansion is a troubling question that does not yet have a satisfactory answer.The current plan is for Interior Health to pay for 60 per cent of the project and the regional hospital district to pay the remaining 40 percent. This is the traditional arrangement for capital health projects in Interior Health.However, the North Okanagan Columbia Shuswap Regional Hospital District, consists of many residents whose first choice for health care would not be a drive to Vernon Jubilee. Among them would be residents from Salmon Arm, Revelstoke, Golden and other communities who are members of the regional hospital district and would be forced to pay for improving the Vernon hospital.“Forced” might not be the correct word because regional hospital district contributions are voluntary. Communities could yank the funding if they felt it suited their purposes.Small communities have threatened to pull their contributions in the past.Last year, a furor over moving laundry services from Vernon hospital to Salmon Arm caused a deep rift in the local hospital district and nearly resulted in some municipalities terminating their contributions.If any of these municipalities decide to remove their hospital contributions to avoid paying for Vernon Jubilee, the City of Vernon and the remaining contributors to the hospital district would have to find a way to make up the rest of the 40 per cent funding they are on the hook for. What happens in five years when completion of the hospital is delayed and costs skyrocket? Will Greater Vernon municipalities have to raise property taxes to keep pace? What’s interesting to note is that municipalities within the Greater Vancouver Regional District do not charge their citizens a property tax.Instead the province has assumed their hospital debt. In plain terms, the provincial government collects money from all B.C. taxpayers to pay for Lower Mainland hospitals. But when it comes paying for hospitals in the rest of B.C., the message seems to be that if you want something – you’re going to have to pay for a lot of it yourself. This payment formula sounds a little bit like a fundraiser only this one doesn’t come with an income tax refund for your donation and you have no option to say no to the collector. The potential impact of soaring hospital costs on Vernon taxpayers could be felt for decades. It’s time for the provincial government to stop legislating double-dipping from our pockets and start paying for 100 per cent of capital hospital costs. Failing that, stop siphoning cash from the wallets of Interior residents to build hospitals in the Lower Mainland that most people outside of Greater Vancouver will never see.