The Hospital bond issue has cost the taxpayers approximately $494,000 annually in levied taxes. These funds go directly to the bondholders to repay the remodeling loan.

The Hospital for the past four (4) years has experienced substantial amounts of "uncompensated care" due, in part, to the economic situation in Boundary County, and that situation has even gotten worse with the recent closure of one of our main lumber mills. In 2002 and 2003, the Hospital incurred in excess of $400,000, for each year, in uncompensated care. The Hospital cannot continue to fund such high levels of uncompensated care without some additional help from our Community.

Hospital District Fact Sheet

The Boundary Community Hospital's Board of Trustees has been searching for a solution to this problem, and we believe that we have come up with one. The bond will be paid off in 2005, as the last payment is due in September of 2005. Currently, Boundary County levies approximately $79,000 per year in taxes to support the Hospital, to which the County adds about $21,000 in other funds, making an approximate total contribution to the Hospital from the County of $100,000 per year. When the 3% initiative was passed, the County was not levying the full amount allowed by Idaho statute for support of the Hospital. Since that time, the County has been limited to 3% increase per year in any levy amount.

The Board of Trustees is proposing, to the voters of Boundary County, formation of a Hospital District to operate the Hospital. Approval by the voters to form this district would take a 50% + 1 vote to have successful passage. The District would be able to levy funds for support of the Hospital. The maximum levy allowed for, by Idaho statute, comes in two areas:

1. Maintenance and Operation of the Hospital, can levy up to 0.06% of the property values.
2. Funded Depreciation, can levy an additional 0.02% to a fund set aside specifically for the purchase of new equipment and upgrading equipment. The maximum would be .08%. We have computed these amounts, and our estimates are that it would cost the taxpayers approximately $435,000 per year, at the current property valuation levels.

Currently the Bond is costing the taxpayers $494,000 per year, and the taxpayers are also paying an additional $100,000, approximately, of funds received from the County. That is a grand total of $594,000 of taxpayers' support of the Hospital. The BCH Board of Trustees is proposing that the Hospital District would go into effect the year following the last payment on the Bond. Therefore, the taxpayers would not see the entire amount of the $494,000 removed from their tax bill, nor would they see an increase in their taxes. In fact, over all they would see a decrease of approximately $138,000 per year in total taxes that are currently being paid to support the Hospital.

The process for forming the Hospital District begins with a petition drive. We need a petition that would be signed by at least 10% of the voters. Then there would be a hearing before the County Commissioners to set the boundaries of the new district. Our proposal is for the boundaries to be Boundary County. The final step would be the election by the voters, and we propose to set this election for the second Tuesday in August of 2004.

The positive effects a new Hospital District would have on operations for the Hospital are:

• The voters would have a greater say in the operations of the Hospital through the election of Board of Trustee Members.
• It would allow the Hospital to continue our mission of providing quality care and continue to offer the citizens and voters of Boundary County, a superior healthcare facility and care, including high quality diagnostics, high quality staff members, etc.

There is also another plus, and that is on the economic development side. We all know that Boundary County has continued to be challenged economically. That is why we have such a high level of uncompensated care. We know there are some basic building blocks for economic development. One is quality schools, and the second is quality health care. Both of which companies look at when they are looking to relocate and move to a community. Through this vehicle of creating a Hospital District we will be able to insure the continuation of a strong and economically viable healthcare system based around Boundary Community Hospital.

Another positive economic development advantage is that BCH is a major employer in our community. BCH employs about 180 full and part time individuals, providing substantial payroll dollars to the community. The stable support of the Hospital through the Hospital District model will assure the Hospitals role as a major employer in our Community.

Boundary Community Hospital is a hospital that our citizens can be proud of for all the support they have given, not only in taxes, but through the Festival of Trees and all the other festival events and donations. The Hospital truly appreciates all the support that community has given over the years. The formation of a Hospital District will assure the continued viability of our Hospital into the future.

I ask for your assistance in the petition drive and hopefully your support of our proposal to create the new Boundary Community Hospital District. If you have questions, please do not hesitate to contact me at 208-267-4850.