A Sweetwater County Commissioner is clearing up confusion on tax-payer dollars that go to the Memorial Hospital of Sweetwater County.
County Commissioner and hospital liaison John Kolb says there has been some confusion as to tax dollars going to the hospital and how those tax dollars are spent.
Commissioner Kolb says over $1 million in tax-payer money goes to the hospital each year. Those funds are used for things like Title 25 funding (used for treatment of those who are a danger to themselves and/or others), hospital maintenance, indigent care, and part of the insurance premium for the building.
While that tax payer funding of over $1 million is a small percentage of the hospital’s overall funds, Kolb says is still a large amount of money.
“They receive in excess over a million dollars. I don’t consider that nothing,” said Kolb. “That money is valuable, especially in times like now when we don’t have a lot of excess in the budget.”
Kolb added that those tax dollars mean a lot to those paying the taxes.
“It does a disservice to the people who I represent to say it means nothing,” said Kolb. “It means a lot more than nothing.”
Kolb noted that Memorial Hospital of Sweetwater County is a county hospital and is owned by the people within the county.
Kolb clarified that taxpayers do not pay an extra tax specifically to fund the hospital. Instead, taxes for county assets are distributed throughout the county.
With budget cuts, Kolb said the County Commissioners did cut back on funding this fiscal year. Despite the hospital requesting double the funding from the year before, the commissioners cut those funds by about 10% of what was provided the previous year. That 10% cut from the previous year was something the commissioners implemented across the board for outside agencies and was not limited to the hospital.
The clarification on the issue comes as a controversy between the Sweetwater County Commissioners and the Board of Trustees for Memorial Hospital of Sweetwater County continues to grow.
In the disagreement, the County Commissioners and the Hospital Board disagree on requirements set by State Statutes.
WyoRadio’s Tom Ellis and Tracie Perkins spoke to Commissioner Kolb about the growing controversy on a special Dateline Wyoming. You can hear the interview with Commissioner Kolb on Dateline Wyoming on Sunday, July 10, 2016 at 7 a.m. on all WyoRadio Stations. Tune in to FMs 96.5, 106.7, 99.7 or AM 1360 at 7 a.m. Sunday to hear the interview with Commissioner Kolb.