Fate of Community Services at Stake in Northeastern N.D.

By Kevin Bonham, Grand Forks Herald, N.D.

Jun. 8–Community services are on the line as voters in cities throughout northeastern North Dakota go to the polls Tuesday.

In Cooperstown, for example, the fate of Cooperstown Medical Center may rest with the result of the creation of a hospital taxing district and a 10-mill property tax levy.

In Minto, where water quality has been a problem, residents will decide whether to join a regional water system.

And in Cando, voters will decide whether or not to pay enough taxes to keep a community library open to the public.

Voters in Grand Forks, Griggs, Nelson and Traill counties will be voting on home rule charters.

Cooperstown

Cooperstown Medical Center is trying to become just the third in the state to create a special hospital taxing district to support its hospital and nursing home complex, according to Greg Stomp, hospital administrator. Divide and Emmons counties currently have hospital districts.

“Without this, we are going to have to make serious looks at whether we can stay open as a hospital,” Stomp said. “This is a serious measure for us, and we’ve been trying to make sure — through public meetings — that everybody understands what this is all about.”

The measure will take a 60 percent majority to pass.

Stomp said Emmons County hospital, located in Linton, operated at a small profit last year for the first time in several years thanks to its hospital district levy.

“We’ve been struggling for a while,” he said. “We are trying to provide a steady source of income and hopefully open the possibility of some other funding sources.”

The Cooperstown hospital, a critical-access facility, averages 4 to 4.5 patients a day, while the clinic averages about 8,000 patients annually. The center’s 48-bed nursing home averages 94 percent to 96 percent occupancy, according to Stomp.

A 10-mill levy would raise about $93,000 a year and would allow the hospital to refinance its existing bond.

That 10-mill tax would cost $18 annually for the owner of a home with an assessed value of $40,000, the average in Cooperstown, and the owner of a quarter section of land, or 160 acres, $25 a year.

“One of the things we’ve been trying to stress is that people will spend more than that driving to other facilities if we’re not able to stay open,” he said.

The nearest medical facilities to Cooperstown are: Valley City, 45 miles south; Mayville, 45 miles east; McVille, 35 miles north; and Carrington, 45 miles west.

Nobody likes to hear that their taxes are going up,” Stomp said. “I’m cautiously optimistic.”

Minto

Voters in Minto will decide whether to join a regional water system with the Walsh Rural Water District and the city of Park River.

The Walsh Rural Water District and Park River already are working on a $7 million project to improve and expand a water treatment plant in Park River and deliver soft water from the Fordville Aquifer to nearly 2,000 customers. Federal and state funding sources are providing about 60 percent of the overall project cost. The project includes:

n Renovation of the Stanley R. Mickelson water complex, near Nekoma, formerly surplus property acquired by the federal government.

n Installation of a raw water transmission pipeline to the city of Park River.

n Rehabilitation of the Park River water treatment plant, increasing the treatment capacity from 600 gallons per minute to 1,200 gallons per minute.

Under the program, Walsh Rural Water District purchases treated water from Park River and delivers it to rural customers.

“This is a real regional concept,” said Bill Link, Walsh Rural Water manager. “We bought into it because it makes sense. Cities do a very good job of treatment. Our expertise is delivery. We go where we have to go to get water to those who need it.”

If Minto decides to join the project, Phase Three will include delivering treated soft water to that community. Minto’s 650 residents already receive water directly from the Fordville Aquifer. But it is treated only for iron and manganese removal at an aging water treatment plant built in the 1960s.

Joining the regional system will mean adding a four-mile extension to an existing 22-mile water line. The city already has about $700,000 set aside for water system improvements, according to City Auditor Tami Ulland.

“There’s no out-of-pocket cost to join the new regional system, except new monthly fees,” she said.

Building a new municipal water treatment plant likely would double local water monthly fees. Participating in the proposed regional system would cost customers, who use 7,000 gallons a month, less than a dollar more per month, according to Ulland.

Cando

In Cando, voters will decide whether to increase the local Cando Community Library mill levy from four to 12 mills.

The library, which opened about nine years ago, has been receiving about $9,000 annually from the city of Cando. But the city has reduced its subsidy.

One mill raises about $1,070, so the tax brings in about $4,200 a year. An eight-mill increase would raise that amount to about $12,800.

The measure takes a 60 percent majority to pass.

Cavalier County

In Cavalier County, voters will decided on a 10-mill levy for road construction and maintenance.

The tax, if approved, would generate about $1.1 million over five years. The levy would end after that time. The proposal lists eight priority projects around the county.

County officials say the tax would cost $30 annually for the owner of one-quarter-section of land or a home valued at $80,000.

Nelson County

While home rule charter measures are pretty straightforward in Grand Forks, Griggs and Traill counties, voters in Nelson County have a special issue intertwined with their proposed charter.

The charter includes language that would allow the County Commission to establish a county sales tax. A

1 percent sales tax would generate an estimated $100,000 annually.

County officials say the county’s road department’s fuel costs increased by $100,000 — about 250 percent — during the past five years, while the cost of equipment, parts and materials have as much as doubled.

Benson County

An emergency medical services levy is on the ballot in Benson County.

The measure would allow the county to levy as many as five mills to help provide emergency medical services.

The proposal is being promoted by local ambulance services in Leeds and Maddock. It was spurred by the temporary closure in April of the Minnewaukan Ambulance Service, which could not find enough qualified volunteers to respond to emergencies.

Reach Bonham at (701) 780-1269; (800) 477-6572, ext. 269; or send e-mail to kbonham@gfherald.com.

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Copyright (c) 2008, Grand Forks Herald, N.D.

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