By Jalen Maki
Tomahawk Leader Editor
MERRILL – A proposed referendum related to the funding of Pine Crest Nursing Home in Merrill will not be on election ballots this fall.
During its meeting at the Lincoln County Service Center in Merrill on Tuesday, Aug. 20, the Lincoln County Board of Supervisors rejected a resolution that sought to place a binding referendum on ballots for the Tuesday, Nov. 5 election.
The resolution failed by an 8-11 vote.
Under the proposed resolution, if it had been approved by voters, Lincoln County would have been allowed to exceed levy limits by $5 million each year from 2025 to 2029 to fund operations, maintenance, repairs, updates and debt service at Pine Crest.
The resolution had been approved by the county’s Administrative and Legislative (A&L) and Finance committees by a 7-2 vote in a joint meeting earlier this month.
The rejection of the resolution comes about six weeks after an agreement for Lincoln County to sell the Merrill facility fell through.
In July, Merrill Campus LLC and Senior Management Inc., the organizations which were previously set to purchase Pine Crest from the county, terminated the Asset Purchase Agreement with the county in response to a lawsuit filed by Lincoln County District 7 Supervisor and People for Pine Crest member Donald J. Dunphy in May.
The lawsuit, which Dunphy said was his “vehicle to keep Pine Crest from being sold,” was dismissed in late July.
The proposed resolution
The proposed resolution was authored by Board Chair and District 10 Supervisor Jesse Boyd and cosponsored by District 12 Supervisor Julie DePasse.
According to the resolution, under the current management agreement between Lincoln County and North Central Health Care (NCHC), which manages Pine Crest, Lincoln County is required to provide NCHC with an annual cash stipend of $440,000.00 to fund four full-time maintenance staff positions and to “bear the financial costs of routine facility maintenance and repair services for Pine Crest Nursing Home.”
The resolution said the sum of these obligations comes out to about $900,000.00 each year.
“NCHC is currently making the debt payment,” the resolution stated. “However, Lincoln County is ultimately responsible for the debt service for Pine Crest Nursing Home, approximating $630,000.00 annually through the year 2038.”
For “numerous years,” the resolution said, Pine Crest expenditures have exceeded gross revenues, leading to the use of the facility’s cash reserves and fund balances to cover losses.
“Although this trend appears to have changed, there remains a risk of reoccurrence,” the resolution stated.
The resolution pointed to the state of Wisconsin’s nearly $1.6 million decrease in annual supplemental and Certified Public Expenditure payments for Pine Crest.
In response to operational losses, decreased supplemental funds and “insufficient reserves,” NCHC requested that Lincoln County provide an additional roughly $1 million to cover the nursing home’s estimated 2022 operating deficit, the resolution said. That allocation ultimately came from the county’s American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds.
The resolution said it is “anticipated that Pine Crest Nursing Home could continue to sustain similar deficits in the foreseeable future” and noted that the facility requires roughly $12 million in maintenance, repairs and updates over the next decade.
Lincoln County does not maintain replacement reserve funds to cover these costs, according to the resolution.
The county’s share of costs for operating, maintaining, repairing and updating the nursing home, as well as guaranteeing debt service, is estimated to be $20 million between 2025 and 2029, the resolution said, which led to the proposed $5 million yearly funding request.
The $5 million annual levy would have had an estimated $186.00 tax impact per $100,000.00 of the assessed value of private property, according to the resolution.
Prior to the vote, several proposed amendments seeking to lower the referendum amount were rejected.
During the meeting, Boyd said there are two parties interested in purchasing the nursing home, and several Supervisors opined that selling the facility is the best option.
The board previously voted down a resolution seeking a referendum related to Pine Crest funding last year.