The Green County voters who went to the polls Tuesday spoke loudly and clearly in support of keeping the Pleasant View Nursing Home in operation.
An impressive 4,830 people voted in the one-issue special election. The outcome was even more impressive in favor of allowing the county government to collect additional tax dollars to make up the funding gap at the nursing home. More than 73 percent of voters (3,560) decided to give the Green County Board of Supervisors permission to levy up to an additional $890,000 over the state-mandated cap for each of the next five years.
The money will be used to bridge the gap between the county's expense to run the nursing home and the revenue it receives. The gap is due in great part to the state's failure to fully reimburse the home's Medicare payments.
Tuesday's outcome certainly confirms the voters' desire to support a county-owned nursing home. That's certainly a laudable gesture from the people of Green County. Now, we expect the county's supervisors and department heads to respond to the people's generosity by being as cost-efficient as possible, and to stick to a commitment they made prior to Tuesday's vote.
When the board voted Aug. 25 to have a referendum, supervisor Harvey Mandel said he hoped the nursing home's finances could be back in order within three years.
"If in three years we only have to have $300,000 for the nursing home, then that's all we would ask for," Mandel said then.
Since then, new Pleasant View Administrator Terry Nelson has discussed ways she thinks the nursing home can increase revenue while cutting costs. County leaders must follow through, quickly, with those efforts - and let the public know exactly how successful (in dollar amounts) they are. The passage of Tuesday's referendum must not be a reprieve for efforts to make the nursing home run more efficiently.
The County Board also must seek ways to cut costs in all other areas of its budget wherever possible and practical. The voters gift of additional tax dollars should be answered with frugality from county supervisors.
Tuesday's commitment by voters isn't an enormous amount of money - the owner of a home valued at $150,000 will pay only as much as about $50 for each of the next five years. But it's not an insignificant amount, either, particularly in these tough economic times.
We'll be watching closely how the county responds - both in its overall budgeting and spending, and in how it operates Pleasant View Nursing Home.
Hopefully, the goodwill shown by voters toward the county Tuesday will be rewarded with fiscal responsibility. It must.
An impressive 4,830 people voted in the one-issue special election. The outcome was even more impressive in favor of allowing the county government to collect additional tax dollars to make up the funding gap at the nursing home. More than 73 percent of voters (3,560) decided to give the Green County Board of Supervisors permission to levy up to an additional $890,000 over the state-mandated cap for each of the next five years.
The money will be used to bridge the gap between the county's expense to run the nursing home and the revenue it receives. The gap is due in great part to the state's failure to fully reimburse the home's Medicare payments.
Tuesday's outcome certainly confirms the voters' desire to support a county-owned nursing home. That's certainly a laudable gesture from the people of Green County. Now, we expect the county's supervisors and department heads to respond to the people's generosity by being as cost-efficient as possible, and to stick to a commitment they made prior to Tuesday's vote.
When the board voted Aug. 25 to have a referendum, supervisor Harvey Mandel said he hoped the nursing home's finances could be back in order within three years.
"If in three years we only have to have $300,000 for the nursing home, then that's all we would ask for," Mandel said then.
Since then, new Pleasant View Administrator Terry Nelson has discussed ways she thinks the nursing home can increase revenue while cutting costs. County leaders must follow through, quickly, with those efforts - and let the public know exactly how successful (in dollar amounts) they are. The passage of Tuesday's referendum must not be a reprieve for efforts to make the nursing home run more efficiently.
The County Board also must seek ways to cut costs in all other areas of its budget wherever possible and practical. The voters gift of additional tax dollars should be answered with frugality from county supervisors.
Tuesday's commitment by voters isn't an enormous amount of money - the owner of a home valued at $150,000 will pay only as much as about $50 for each of the next five years. But it's not an insignificant amount, either, particularly in these tough economic times.
We'll be watching closely how the county responds - both in its overall budgeting and spending, and in how it operates Pleasant View Nursing Home.
Hopefully, the goodwill shown by voters toward the county Tuesday will be rewarded with fiscal responsibility. It must.
