News

On Mondays in the run-up to the November Election, KOTO News will be covering this year’s Ballot initiatives. This week, we have a profile of Ballot Measure 6A, which proposes a property tax increase to support the Telluride Medical Center.

On Mondays in the run-up to the November Election, KOTO News will be covering this year’s Ballot initiatives. This week, we have a profile of Ballot Measure 6A, which proposes a property tax increase to support the Telluride Medical Center.

Here’s Interim MedCenter CEO Diana Koelliker explaining how the ballot measure would affect taxpayers.

“Voting ‘yes’ on 6A will result in an increase in your tax bill by $18 a month or $220 a year per $1 million dollars valuation of your home,” she explains.

Those are property taxes to be clear, and those collections would raise nearly 4 million dollars for the MedCenter — funds which are critically needed by the institution. Marc Cabrera, a member of the Hospital District Board which is the Med Center’s governing body, explains the Medical Center has a major cash flow problem.

“Our revenue, which is predominantly reimbursement from insurance, is at just shy of $6 million a year. Our operating costs have doubled over the last few years and are nearly twice that,” Cabrera reports. “So we’re at a position where we can’t afford to continue to keep our doors open without this support from taxpayers.”

In 2022, the MedCenter operated at a deficit of roughly 1.5 million dollars, and will likely repeat those numbers this year. This summer, the board turned to local governments for an emergency bailout in order to make payroll and keep its doors open until March, when it could receive funding from the passage of ballot measure 6A.

In speaking with voters, District Board Chair Paul Reich reports many are asking how the hospital will stretch these potential new tax dollars, and he says:

“We’ve taken real solid steps, and we feel very optimistic that we are addressing a lot of the problems that have led us to this point. But healthcare in rural Colorado, to be sustainable, is always going to require some level of support from our taxpayers,” Reich says.

Money from 6A, in addition to addressing the current cash flow problem, would also assist the Hospital District in building employee housing and increasing some staff salaries — a third of MedCenter employees currently are paid under the median wage for their position.

And, what happens if voters opt for no, on 6A? The MedCenter would have to drastically cut costs in order to stay open, which would involve reducing its offerings, laying off staff, and dramatically downsizing. For Dr. Koelliker, the results would be unimaginable.

“As we chop away at what we do here I think it will overall impact so many lives, and so many people on such a broad scale. So I honestly can’t even approach that. I really hope that that’s not something we need to embark on — that exercise,” Koelliker says.

Proposition 6A appears on the Ballot in this November’s election. Ballots have been mailed and are due in drop boxes by 7 PM on November 7th. To find all of KOTO’s election coverage, go to koto.org.