Crittenden County Sales Tax Election Set To Possibly Re-open Hospital

A proposal for a five-year, one-cent sales tax to re-open Crittenden Regional Hospital will be on the ballot next month.

Crittenden County residents will head to the polls July 14 to decide the fate of the tax, which will operate the hospital in West Memphis.

The hospital has been closed since Sept. 7, 2014 after the hospital’s then-board said they had explored “all possible options with legal and financial advisors.”

After the hospital closed, a series of lawsuits involving the hospital’s former operator, Crittenden Hospital Association, dealing with employee insurance were filed in federal court in Jonesboro.

The cases are scheduled to be heard Feb. 8, 2016 in front of U.S. District Judge Price Marshall in Jonesboro.

Crittenden County Judge Woody Wheeless said officials are working with Nashville, Tenn.-based AMERIS Health to help run the day-to-day operations of the hospital.

Wheeless said Monday the sales tax proposal was the same one brought before voters last June. However, Wheeless said the new proposal will provide some protections for taxpayers.

The proceeds from the tax will not go toward the salaries of doctors and nurses, while the company will not receive any money without providing invoices to the county for work that is done, Wheeless said.

AMERIS Health will also provide up to $15 million to help with the operations, Wheeless said.

The tax is expected to raise nearly $30 million in revenue to help run the hospital. Wheeless said the money will be used exclusively for maintenance, upkeep and operations of the hospital.

If the tax is approved by voters, the county’s sales tax rate would go from 1.75% to 2.75%. Also, the overall tax rate (state, county and city) would reach 9.75% in West Memphis and 10.25% in Marion.

If the tax is approved, officials are working for a Dec. 1 start date for the hospital. Wheeless said the county is working on a lease agreement with AMERIS Health on the issue.

An attempt to reach AMERIS Health on Monday for comment was not successful.

FUTURE
Wheeless said the closure of the hospital has placed his county in a precarious situation.

Most residents who need healthcare have to go to Memphis, Osceola, Wynne or Forrest City to get help. Wheeless said there is a “group in the county that wants it and a group in the county that does not want it (the tax).”

The county has also spent nearly $100,000 a month for security, maintenance, insurance and upkeep on the hospital grounds.

However, Wheeless said the county has been able to cut the amount by nearly a third by having either Crittenden County deputies or West Memphis police patrol the area.

Early voting for the tax runs from July 7 to July 13 at the courthouse in Marion.