VERNAL — Registered voters in Uintah County will cast their ballots Tuesday, Feb. 8, to decide the fate of a plan to increase the county sales tax by as much as 1 percent to fund the proposed expansion of the Uintah Care Center.
Uintah County owns and operates the facility, which they have had to subsidize by as much as $450,000 annually. They are also repaying a loan on a recently completed adult day care service at the Care Center.
Now a lengthy waiting list — sometimes containing as many as 30 applicants seeking admission to the Care Center — has prompted the need for the county to enlarge the facility from 52 beds to 114 beds to increase revenue and provide an adequate facility where ailing loved ones can go for care as they grow older.
Expansion plans for the facility have been discussed for the past three years by a resident'scommittee. It was decided that the sales-tax increase would be preferable to raising property taxes to pay for the project.
A public meeting held recently in Vernal to gather community input on the proposal demonstrated a great deal of support for the tax hike. However, not everyone believes a sales-tax increase is the best way to fund the building project. The Vernal Chamber of Commerce Board of Directorsopposes the tax increase to fund the Uintah Care Center expansion and would like to see other funding avenues investigated.
Patient, family and federal government payments for health-care services do not provide revenues for capital improvements. State law permits up to 1 percent additional sales tax to benefit rural county-owned and operated long-term health-care facilities.
County commissioners estimate that a four-tenths of 1 percent sales tax (40 cents on every $100 purchase) would adequately cover the cost of enlarging the facility and pay for increased operations, but commissioners have warned residents that the tax may be as large as one percent.
The tax would end in 10 years unless it was re-approved.
A study has shown that 30 percent of the sales taxes in Uintah County are collected from people who live outside the county.