The drama of AB 918 should now cease since the bill was approved in California Senate and is on its way to the Governor’s desk for signature. I hope that next several months provide for a pathway for smooth transition toward a single healthcare district. There is a great deal of work, negotiation, and compromise yet to do. My family will continue to watching the progress closely.
In the meantime, I do want to provide a bit of good news for those residents in the Pioneers Memorial Healthcare District. The annual property tax bill are being mailed by the County and some of you have noticed that the tax payment for PMHD is not on the statement. The property tax is actually still there, just imbedded in with other assessments. I will explain that a bit later. The missing piece is the bond debt. Some time ago, PMHD obtained a bond for facility improvements with a portion of that bond debt to be paid by the property owners within the district boundaries. PMHD will be responsible for other potion of the bond debt from patient’s fees and reimbursement. That bond debt as of June 30, 2023 is just over $15 million dollars. The maturity date of this bond is October 2024 at which point the bond debt will be paid in full. The last two payments toward the bond debit to be paid from taxes from the property owners within the district boundaries totals $467,125. The good news is that the County is holding sufficient funds to make these last two payment without further collection from us. That is why that prior tax payment labeled previously “PMHD” is no longer on the statement.
You are likely wondering if you are still paying taxes to PMHD and the answer is yes if you are a property owner. The property tax assessment in the County is 1% of the value of the property, real estate and personal property, less some credits. Of that 1%, PMHD get 0.008% of the total payment. For those of us who are percentage challenged, here are a couple of examples. I have used the 2020 U. S. Census date to obtain the median owner housing value for Brawley and Calipatria as the basis of the calculation.
| Average Value | 1% Tax | PMHD Share | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brawley | $225,300.00 | $2,253.00 | $18.02 |
| Calipatria | $148,800.00 | $1,488.0 | $11.90 |
Each of you can use this to determine your actual annual payment to PMHD based on your property value. Please use this as baseline of comparison for the upcoming proposals to raise property tax to fund the new healthcare district.
If only the City of El Centro had done the same tax, perhaps they would not find themselves in the financial collapse that will burden us all.