Letter: Has nursing home info

Dear Editor,

The Oct. 9 issue of the Star-Observer contains a letter from St. Croix County Supervisor Buzz Marzolf. Some of the information in that letter is incorrect and I’d like to clear up some misunderstandings.

I serve on the Finance Committee of the St Croix County Board. At our meeting on Oct. 2 we asked Fred Johnson, administrator of Health and Human Services, to bring back to our Oct. 9 meeting information concerning the tax levy dollar savings which might be accomplished by a potential future reduction in size to 50 or 44 beds at the county home.

We did not vote to reduce nursing home beds, nor did we vote to take that idea to the County Board on Oct 21. The motion to obtain the information requested passed 4-1. We have been doing our best to balance the county budget, which we are required to do.

Therefore, in order to keep our sheriff’s patrols on the highways, provide economic and mental health services to those in need, protect our investment in our roads and infrastructure, and not reduce services within our county any more than necessary, we have to choose which services we will provide.

We are not mandated by state laws to provide for a nursing home. If the vote on the Nov. 4 referendum concerning continuing to support a nursing home passes, we will be forced to continue to reduce other county services. We hope to get some guidance from the electorate on Nov. 4, so vote your opinion on this important issue for the future of St. Croix County. You will find the minutes of the Oct 2 meeting of the Finance Committee on the county Web site.

Sharon Norton-Bauman, Hudson

St. Croix County Supervisor, District 19

Tags: opinion, hudson, letter, stcroixcounty, nursing_home