Hospital to hear input on proposed tax rate
By SHANNON CRABTREE newsdesk@leader-news.com

A second public hearing on the proposed 2007-2008 tax rate for the West Wharton County Hospital District will be held at noon Friday, Sept. 14.

The proposed 12.99 cent per $100 in taxable property rate is a 30 percent increase over last year's levy, El Campo Memorial Hospital Administrator Steve Gularte said Thursday, but still below the district's rollback rate. The hospital district directors met Thursday for a first public hearing on the proposed rate hike.

The anticipated additional revenue, Gularte said, will go to pay for "indigent care and the recruitment of doctors."

The hospital is also coping with about 2.5 million in bad debt - about 8 to 8.5 percent of its total patient load.

"That's up from the year before," he said, adding. "We are seeing more and more (patients) without insurance."

The certified taxable value of the district which includes all of Wharton County west of the Colorado River except the Wharton Municipal Airport, is $1,162,923,974 for 2007, according to calculations made by the Wharton County Central Appraisal District. That's up more than $40.3 million from the $1,122,539,101 evaluation last year.

Last year's tax rate was just under 10 cents per $100 in taxable property at .09990. The 2005 rate was 11.45 cents.

This year's effective rate is .09829. The rollback rate, however, is slightly more than 13 cents per $100.

The board plans to formally adopt its budget and tax rate Monday Sept. 24 at 6 p.m. Hospital district board meetings are held at ECMH, 303 Sandy Corner Road.