Before it becomes a referendum about something that it's not, let's make one thing clear about a ballot question the Green County Board of Supervisors will consider Aug. 25: It would not be a vote of support or non-support for Pleasant View Nursing Home.
The board's Finance and Accounting Committee on Friday voted unanimously to recommend asking voters whether to allow the county to collect an additional $890,000 for each of the next five years to make up a deficit in funding the county-operated nursing home. The board, during a special meeting scheduled for Aug. 25, will decide whether to put the question on the ballot Oct. 6.
Unless officials start saying something they have not, there is no question of whether or not the county will continue to pay for and operate the nursing home. The county's leaders have indicated that if a referendum is on the ballot and defeated, the funding will be found by cutting from other parts of the budget. One way or another, the money will be there.
The vote, if there is one, will be about whether to collect extra tax dollars, or to use existing county coffers, to pay for Pleasant View Nursing Home.
To voters and citizens of Green County, do not allow either proponents or opponents of a referendum to convince this is a vote about whether you support a county-owned nursing home. It is not.
To county officials, if you choose to place a referendum on the ballot in seven weeks, make sure that short amount of time is used wisely and to the benefit of your constituents. Be sure to explain clearly and consistently why there is a funding gap for Pleasant View Nursing Home. And, most importantly, tell voters what's at stake. Tell them what kinds of cuts in government personnel and services would result from a failed referendum.
Because that is what a referendum would truly be about.
The board's Finance and Accounting Committee on Friday voted unanimously to recommend asking voters whether to allow the county to collect an additional $890,000 for each of the next five years to make up a deficit in funding the county-operated nursing home. The board, during a special meeting scheduled for Aug. 25, will decide whether to put the question on the ballot Oct. 6.
Unless officials start saying something they have not, there is no question of whether or not the county will continue to pay for and operate the nursing home. The county's leaders have indicated that if a referendum is on the ballot and defeated, the funding will be found by cutting from other parts of the budget. One way or another, the money will be there.
The vote, if there is one, will be about whether to collect extra tax dollars, or to use existing county coffers, to pay for Pleasant View Nursing Home.
To voters and citizens of Green County, do not allow either proponents or opponents of a referendum to convince this is a vote about whether you support a county-owned nursing home. It is not.
To county officials, if you choose to place a referendum on the ballot in seven weeks, make sure that short amount of time is used wisely and to the benefit of your constituents. Be sure to explain clearly and consistently why there is a funding gap for Pleasant View Nursing Home. And, most importantly, tell voters what's at stake. Tell them what kinds of cuts in government personnel and services would result from a failed referendum.
Because that is what a referendum would truly be about.
