Dig though the noise and misinformation – vote Yes

Editor:

I read with interest, letters to the editor and the online posts from those opposed to the tax increase requested by Cedar County Memorial Hospital. There has never been an increase in the nearly 60 year history of the hospital. Arguments against raising this tax, like all taxes, are pretty much the same. Taxes are bad, we don’t use the services, the service is poor, no one can afford it, etc. etc. It certainly looks like much time, effort, and dollars have been expended in this effort by those opposed. I’d be willing to bet when Stockton built their new school a few years ago, many of the same individuals used the same arguments.

Opponents to the tax increase repeatedly try to assure everyone that opposing the tax increase will not endanger the hospital and insist they do NOT want to close the hospital. They argue mismanagement, then cite the fact that Cedar County Memorial Hospital has built financial reserves (a good thing), THEN they seem to make the argument the hospital should allow the reserves to run dry (a bad thing) before asking for any tax increase. This makes no sense.  Add to this, the silly argument that the hospital gets an increase every time property values go up. This flawed logic fails to take into account inflation. A dollar in 1961 bought much more than $1.00 today. Approximately $7.62 more depending upon which economist you choose to cite as your source. (Feel free to do your own Google search typing “1961 dollar.”) The difference in buying power between 1961 and today is significantly more than the “300 percent” those opposing the issue cry about.

I have to wonder if half the effort to oppose and complain regarding this tax increase were put into actually trying to solve the problem, a solution might be found. To my knowledge, NOT ONE of those leading the opposition has reached out in person to the Board or Administration at the hospital to offer solutions. To my knowledge NOT ONE of the opposition has attended a regularly scheduled, publicly advertised board meeting to directly ask questions or seek solutions. To my knowledge, NOT ONE person from the opposition has run for the board of the hospital. Typing on a computer is easy, posting mad face emoji’s on Facebook sites is cute. How about actually trying to solve a problem if you perceive there is one?

Nobody likes higher taxes but they are a fact of life. We pay them for highways in Missouri we may never use, Department of Conservation areas we may never visit, schools our kids have long since graduated from, and yes, sometimes hospitals we may not expect to use but are there for our neighbors and God forbid, us, in the event of an unforeseen emergency. I urge the voters of Cedar County to dig through the noise and misinformation being spread on this issue and vote YES on April 7 to increase financial support for our county hospital.

Leeanne Beaty,

El Dorado Springs