Voters reject Hillcrest funding

Wednesday, September 28, 2016

McCOOK, Neb. -- Red Willow County commission chairman Earl McNutt said this morning he thinks that the rejection of the Hillcrest Nursing Home ballot question is more a vote against more taxes than against the home.

The 1,296-1,136 failure of the request to raise $254,480 for roof repairs at the county-owned nursing home surprised McNutt, but it also didn't, he said. "I know there's lots of support for the nursing home," he said, "but by the same token, there are concerns with its operations. And the bottom line is, voters just don't want any more new property taxes in general."

"The city raised its (tax) levy, the school raised its levy," McNutt said. The county's levy increase for 2016-17 was minimal, he said, up just .15 of 1 cent over the 2015-16 tax levy of $.294979.

If the Hillcrest question had been successful, the county's levy would have gone from $.296453 to $.316453.

McNutt said he understands county residents' concerns over the future of Hillcrest, but he assured them that "the last thing on our minds is closing the nursing home." He said the county will do everything it can to keep the nursing home open, whether it's owned and operated by the county or some other management entity.

"Obviously I'm disappointed but it won't change the way we're doing things here," said Colinda Nappa, executive director of Hillcrest Nursing Home. A successful ballot would have meant an avenue to repair the roof more quickly, she said, so without it, will just take a little more time to get the roof fixed.

In the meantime, "We will continue to watch expenses and to provide the great quality of care we give to our residents."

The ballot measure would have allowed the county to increase its "Budgeted Restricted Funds" by an additional 6 percent over the 2 1/2 percent annual allowable growth.

Tuesday's results indicated 1,296 ballots were cast against the request, with 1,136 ballots cast in favor, according to unofficial results from the Red Willow County Clerk's Office. A canvassing board meets Thursday to confirm the results.

This week's special election represented the first time the mail-in format was used for a county-wide ballot issue in Red Willow County. In 2015, a city-wide special election in McCook represented the first time Red Willow County election officials utilized the mail-in format.

Election officials credit the format with increasing voter turnout and easing vote tallying. Tuesday's election yielded a 39 percent voter turnout. 2,440 ballots were cast from a block of 6,323 ballots mailed out.

Red Willow County has 7,176 registered voters, however, voters that moved from their registered address received a notification postcard instead of a ballot. 243 ballots were also returned undeliverable by the post office, which pushes voter turnout to slightly more than 40 percent when factored.

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