Cash-Strapped Calif. County Approves Hospital Tax

From the WashingtonPost.com:

Voters in a rural California county are in such a dire financial condition that it's seeking a state bailout.

The vote gives Modoc County, in the state's northeastern corner, a much-needed infusion of cash and likely means it will avoid bankruptcy.

Voters approved two measures - one to impose a $195-a-year parcel tax to keep their struggling hospital, and another to create a hospital district to oversee its operations. The tax required two-thirds voter approval.

Local officials said they needed the tax because the hospital's operating costs have overwhelmed county finances. They had hired a bankruptcy attorney and have requested a $12.5 million loan from the state.

State finance officials are considering the request and said they want to be assured the county could repay the loan. The vote results make that more likely.

Taxes and Salaries, County by County

Earlier in the week, the annual report from the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse at Syracuse University was released and it contains lots of fascinating tax data from 2008. It includes statistics about salaries and tax revenue from over 3,000 counties across the nation. The New York Times posted a great article on what the data suggests, and you can find a section of their piece below or the full text here.

Some of the findings based on tax data from 2008:

• When it comes to exemptions claimed per taxpayer, Utah County (Provo), Utah, has the highest rate in the country, at 2.76. Residents of New York County (Manhattan) in New York claim the least number of exemptions on average, 1.54 per taxpayer.
• Average wages and salaries were highest in Loudoun County (Round Hill), Va., at $85,028. They were lowest in Catron County (Glenwood), N.M., with an average of $14,289.
• Combining all sources of income, Teton County (Moose), Wy. was No. 1., with an average of $142,048 in adjusted gross income. Adjusted gross income was lowest in Douglas County (Ava), Mo., reporting an average of $18,262.

An app that sorts the tax and income data by state and county can be found here.