“Tax Return – 1040” by 401(K) 2012, CC BY-SA 2.0

There’s no guarantee Measure A will “save the hospitals” says South County Biz Alliance board member Matt Wendt. He says the general sales tax could be siphoned off to overspending in other areas, like Santa Clara County’s new fire department contract which is vastly more expensive than CalFire. The county should learn to budget, he says, or sell off the hospitals now and cut its losses. An Opportunity Now exclusive commentary.

The county bought these bankrupt hospitals while knowing that they are losing money and their only solution now is to tax us rather than make them financially viable. 

Measure A goes to a general fund so there is no guarantee this money is even going to be used to save the hospitals as they claim. The funds from this additional sales tax could go to fund their overspending in other areas. For example, the funds could pay for the new county fire department contract after removing the less expensive department Cal-Fire from the south county rural county areas.  

Inflation in California is already out of control. This sales tax is going to cause further pain to small business owners and residents alike and increase the cost of living. The county should learn to budget or sell the hospitals now and cut their losses.