County officials flag hospital infrastructure needs as local tax rules change in 2028

Greene County leaders told the council the county's hospital — a critical access facility — needs additional infrastructure investment and that upcoming changes to state tax rules could affect local funding options.

Officials said the hospital building is aging, originally dating from the 1970s, and that much county support for facility upgrades has come through loans or county-facilitated funding arrangements. Speakers said infrastructure needs — boilers, chillers and other mechanical systems — have required capital that has limited funds available for service expansion. Officials also described efforts over recent years to expand hospital staffing and services, noting the hospital's employee count grew from roughly 200 to about 500.

Meeting participants discussed a statutory provision informally referred to in the session as an “acute-care hospital tax” that, according to staff, is slated to be repealed effective Jan. 1, 2028, and that the state’s broader restructuring of local income-tax levies is expected to consolidate many current separate levies into a single local-income-tax bucket. Staff said the county could, under current rules, pursue a hospital-related local income tax in the near term, but the statutory changes scheduled for 2028 could alter or eliminate that option; the transcript records the staff comment that the statute appears to be repealed effective 01/01/2028 and that a new structure is planned for 2028.

Speakers discussed the hospital's strategic property acquisitions — including a corner lot the hospital bought to avoid competitors locating there — and options to move administrative functions out of clinical space to free up room for care. Officials said administrative space could be located offsite (reducing federal clinical compliance costs) while keeping clinical services in the hospital footprint.

The transcript also records a small allocation of riverboat revenues that the county recently received; a county staff member reported the amount at about $80,000 and asked whether those funds are available for spending. No formal decision on using riverboat funds for hospital infrastructure was recorded.

Ending: County leaders asked council members to consider hospital infrastructure needs as the county's capital and tax planning continues and requested staff follow up on the statutory changes and potential short-term funding options.