HCH sales tax takes effect Jan. 1
Starting Jan. 1, the new quarter-percent sales tax in support of Holton Community Hospital will go into effect.
The quarter-percent sales tax was approved by Jackson County voters at the Nov. 4 general election and will be effective for 10 years, generating revenue to support the hospital’s services, it was reported.
The new sales tax will generate 25 cents on a $100 purchase, an amount that hospital CEO Carrie Lutz told members of the Holton City Commission in October was a small price to pay in order to help keep high-quality hospital services in the Holton community.
Lutz had told Holton commissioners that getting the sales tax onto the November ballot involved a lot of “jumping through hoops” at the state level, and seeking the sales tax, which is estimated to generate $300,000 to $400,000 annually for the hospital, “wasn’t a decision our board came to lightly.”
Prior to the election, HCH was one of five hospitals in Kansas that did not receive any public funding and is not part of a health care system. Furthermore, reimbursements from Medicare, Medicaid and Medicare Advantage programs have not kept up with rising costs at the hospital, it was reported.
The sales tax adjustment, which passed with 1,413 yes votes to 848 no votes, will not affect grocery purchases, as the State of Kansas officially eliminated the state sales tax on food and food ingredients on Jan. 1, 2025.
It’s not the first time that the hospital has been supported by tax funds, as there had been a property tax levy at the city level that ended when the hospital moved to its current location north of Holton in the late 1990s.
