The Travis Co. Commissioners Court on Tuesday accepted a ballot petition calling for an election to establish a countywide health care district. Commissioners directed staff to verify the petition signatures before they set – possibly as early as next week – a May 15 election on a tax-financed system to fund health care for the county’s indigent and uninsured.
Proponents of the district have already assembled a bipartisan group of political operatives and health care consultants to sell the idea to voters. Advocates also hope to raise more than half a million dollars to fund the election campaign and counter the anticipated arguments from opposition forces objecting to a new tax on county residents. Clarke Heidrick, who chairs the health care district’s steering committee, says it’s too early to gauge the organizational strength of the opposition. IBM software engineer Don Zimmerman is reportedly spearheading anti-district efforts.
But proponents have had a two-year head start on this issue, and support for the district appears to be exceptionally strong, with endorsements from the medical community, business leaders, public health care advocates, and various other organizations. “You either do something or you do nothing at all,” Heidrick said. Though only 100 signatures are required to petition the county to hold an election, Probate Judge Guy Herman – one of the initial proponents of a district – said he collected well over 300 signatures from registered voters.
With the creation of a district, county residents would see their property taxes raised an additional 5 to 6 cents per $100 valuation, which would equalize the health care funding burden; current Austin residents pay a little more than 7 cents, between their city and county taxes, for public health care. As such, city residents would not face an immediate tax increase, Heidrick said. The district would merge existing city and county health care funds; the two entities would appoint a nine-member board to prioritize and allocate dollars toward local health care needs. Heidrick estimates that the new taxing method would generate $4 million to $6 million in new revenue the first year.
For more details on the proposed district, see www.healthytraviscounty.com.
This article appears in February 20 • 2004.
