In the Tri-City Herald's Mid-Columbia section on Nov. 11, the Kennewick Public Hospital District Board bragged about projected increased revenue because of the rising number of patients in its clinics and hospital. The approved 2012 budget does not raise the district's fees for health care. Instead it approved a 1 percent increase of the property tax on taxpayers who adjust their living costs to live within their budget. Many of us will never use KGH but go to the other two hospitals and pay for our health care without public taxpayer dollars.
The following is a reminder from the "Get the Facts on KGH Proposition No. 1" in 2007.
The KGH District was formed in 1948 to supplement KGH with taxes because the small, rural population it served could not support a hospital on patient revenues alone. These taxes helped keep KGH afloat from 1962 to 1968. The population growth from 1969 to 1999 allowed KGH to stop collecting the tax. KGH resumed collecting taxes in 2000, even though the district is now the center of one of the largest and fastest growing metropolitan areas in Washington.
KGH doesn't fit Rural Hospital criteria and shouldn't be taxing anyone.
Bill Graves, Richland
