Public resistance to an incremental tax rate increase could spell the end of a 50-year run for a public nursing home in Missouri.
Voters are being asked to approve a 21-cent increase for every $100 in home value — the maximum allowed under state law — to save Loch Haven Senior Living Community. That would be an additional $21 annually for the owner of a $100,000 home.
The facility houses about 125 residents and is one of dozens set up in the 1960s and 1970s to ensure access in under-served communities, according to the Missouri Health Care Association.
“Most of these are still rural areas,” Executive Director Nikki Strong told McKnight’s. “If they go out of business, you’re not going to find someone to come in and build there.”
The average Macon County resident now pays taxes of between $30 and $60 per year to supplement the nursing home’s budget.
Like many of the nonprofit, publicly owned members of nursing home tax districts, and others around the country, Loch Haven is also struggling with stagnant Medicaid reimbursement levels.
Strong said that Missouri facilities are underfunded an average of $20 per resident day, with a 1% increase set for July 1 unlikely to keep pace with cost of living increases.
The Macon County Nursing Home District board and its administrators have already eliminated positions, reduced employee benefits and switched to less expensive food and auditing services, according to local news accounts. They met with members of the Macon County Economic Development Board and state senators to seek long-term solutions, and they have hired a public relations consultant to try to sell the public on approving the tax increase.
While the proposed levy is comparable to that of other nearby districts, Macon County voters rejected a similar measure by about 200 votes in April. Even with passage, Loch Haven’s budget issue is likely to reemerge. The levy can’t be increased again, and the state also has maxed out the bed tax charged to providers.
Strong said her organization is working with the governor and Legislature to find statewide funding solutions that will help all facilities. She said the state has reset its Medicaid rates only once in the program’s existence. “The long-term fix for Missouri is to fully fund Medicaid for the first time ever,” she said.
In the meantime, safety-net facilities like Loch Haven have no way to reinvest in failing infrastructure. Installing new sprinkler systems in two wings recently cost about $175,000, according to district board Vice President Jayce Weber.“One more catastrophic event like that would be the end of Loch Haven,” he said. “The upkeep for the building is astronomical. At this point, we’re [operating] hand-to-mouth.”
