Letter to the Editor published in the Sept. 18, 2024 issue of the Tomahawk Leader.
A single-minded drive to sell at all costs
Regarding the off again/on again sale of Pine Crest Nursing Home. You will be reading this after the latest county board meeting, so I can only anticipate what will take place. Part of that problem is the delayed posting of minutes after committee meetings.
Let me remind you of the less-than-ideal terms of the previous sale. A sale price of $8.5 million was created without an appraisal – independent or otherwise. That low price raised a lot of eyebrows and still does. To add to that insult, the Social Services building was included in that price. Supposedly that complex was only worth around $500,000.00, without appraisal. Then the county would lease back, from the purchaser, the needed space for approximately $96,000.00/year for five years – costing the county approximately $480,000.00, over that five-year period.
There’s more. The county would require an initial payment of approximately $6.39 million up front, while floating the rest of the $2 million over five-years worth of payments.
Then there is the asset agreement stipulation that the purchaser would run Pine Crest as a skilled nursing facility, which is critical to maintaining its previous support level. That requirement lapses after two years. An amendment to extend that requirement to the same five-year period as the county’s loan to the purchaser was defeated. Why? The original sale leaves many unanswered questions.
We currently have no information about one of the two potential buyers. The Administrative & Legislative Committee is asking the County Board’s approval to negotiate the next sale and, apparently, seal the deal without the full board approval. More closed sessions? The board recently shot down referendums that would have put Pine Crest on the tax levy. Clearly, there is a single-minded drive to sell at all costs.
Diana C. Smith
Tomahawk