MONROE - Despite a nearly $900,000 referendum vote looming Oct. 6, few people spoke at Tuesday's Green County Board of Supervisors' public hearing on the matter.
The board set aside a portion of its meeting to hear from people who wanted to talk about the referendum that will allow the county to exceed the tax levy limit by up to $890,000 to help cover an expected $1.2 million deficit at Pleasant View Nursing Home this year.
The five-year referendum would cost the owner of a home valued at $150,000 about $50 a year, and it will cost the owner of a home valued at $300,000 about $100 a year for the next five years.
Although about 60 people attended the meeting, only four people spoke during the public hearing, but three of them are employees at Pleasant View Nursing Home and one was a former patient at the nursing home.
Melody Loeffelholz told the board she had to stay in the nursing home after she broke a bone in her leg. She said the doctors put seven screws and a plate in her leg, and after surgery she needed a place to go to stay until her leg healed.
She and her family chose Pleasant View.
"I had to learn how to walk again and I had to learn daily tasks," she told the board. "At 51-years-old I didn't plan to be a patient at Pleasant View."
Diane Holcomb, who works at the nursing home, said Pleasant View serves more than just the county's elderly population.
Peggy Siegenthaler, a Pleasant View employee, presented about 1,200 signatures to the county board from county residents who want to keep the nursing home.
"We need a 'yes' vote to protect an important part of our community," she said.
County board members have said in past meetings the nursing home will not close next year regardless of the outcome of the referendum.
Cindy Miller, who also works at the nursing home, said it's an important place for families who want to keep their relatives close to them.
She said the residents see Pleasant View as their home.
"They need our care," she said of the residents.
In 2008 the nursing home had a deficit of about $900,000.
This year it's estimated the nursing home will have a deficit of about $1.2 million. The county was to receive about $650,000 from the state for the Pleasant View budget. However, the state Legislature decided to keep some of the federal money ordinarily sent to the nursing home to help cover its Medicaid Trust Fund deficits.
The board set aside a portion of its meeting to hear from people who wanted to talk about the referendum that will allow the county to exceed the tax levy limit by up to $890,000 to help cover an expected $1.2 million deficit at Pleasant View Nursing Home this year.
The five-year referendum would cost the owner of a home valued at $150,000 about $50 a year, and it will cost the owner of a home valued at $300,000 about $100 a year for the next five years.
Although about 60 people attended the meeting, only four people spoke during the public hearing, but three of them are employees at Pleasant View Nursing Home and one was a former patient at the nursing home.
Melody Loeffelholz told the board she had to stay in the nursing home after she broke a bone in her leg. She said the doctors put seven screws and a plate in her leg, and after surgery she needed a place to go to stay until her leg healed.
She and her family chose Pleasant View.
"I had to learn how to walk again and I had to learn daily tasks," she told the board. "At 51-years-old I didn't plan to be a patient at Pleasant View."
Diane Holcomb, who works at the nursing home, said Pleasant View serves more than just the county's elderly population.
Peggy Siegenthaler, a Pleasant View employee, presented about 1,200 signatures to the county board from county residents who want to keep the nursing home.
"We need a 'yes' vote to protect an important part of our community," she said.
County board members have said in past meetings the nursing home will not close next year regardless of the outcome of the referendum.
Cindy Miller, who also works at the nursing home, said it's an important place for families who want to keep their relatives close to them.
She said the residents see Pleasant View as their home.
"They need our care," she said of the residents.
In 2008 the nursing home had a deficit of about $900,000.
This year it's estimated the nursing home will have a deficit of about $1.2 million. The county was to receive about $650,000 from the state for the Pleasant View budget. However, the state Legislature decided to keep some of the federal money ordinarily sent to the nursing home to help cover its Medicaid Trust Fund deficits.