Letter to the Editor

I would like to thank the Long Term Care Task Force for coming to Lustre to share their concerns and possible solutions. I would like to support this effort. There are two concerns that were not addressed with clarity:

1). Will the election of new board members to Valley View Home Board be open to the public and will it be able to address sloppy management quickly? Non-profit boards have a reputation of doing well for a short period of time and then quickly moving to sloppiness. This situation will happen again.

2). The idea of a 10 mil permanent special tax district cannot get my support. Permanent is a long long time. Valley View is very close to being profitable. If they are able to be 5 percent more efficient and got a 5 percent increase from Medicaid they could break even. The 10 mil tax needs to be like the university tax which has a 10 year renewal vote. Things that make so much sense today will look a little foolish 10 years from now. For example the taxable valuation will go up in the near future with the Pipeline and property values increasing. The 10 mil could instead of bringing in $300,000 bring in $450,000. Would it be wise to give this kind of money to a nonprofit which could well be breaking even?

We as a county may be on the right track but it is very difficult to undo permanent.