Poll finds support of tax for public health care
By Michele R. Marcucci, STAFF WRITER, THE DAILY REVIEW
Wednesday, November 05, 2003

A majority of Alameda County voters supports the idea of a sales tax increase to pay for public health care, something the Board of Supervisors may put on the March 2004 ballot, according to a new poll released Tuesday.

Some 71 percent of 600 Alameda County voters interviewed in an October telephone survey said they would support the idea of a half-cent sales tax for health care, according to the poll, conducted by Evans/McDonough Company Inc.

But some supervisors warned that a ballot initiative to approve such a tax will need to offer benefits for residents not just in the Oakland area but in the eastern and southern sections of the county. It is estimated that a half-cent sales tax increase could generate from $85 million to $95 million a year.

"What I'm hearing from my district is, 'If there's nothing here for us, we ain't voting,'" said Supervisor Scott Haggerty, whose district covers southern and eastern Alameda County.

If passed, the ballot initiative would provide funding for the Alameda County Medical Center and county behavioral health services, and could also provide funds for other hospitals that provide care for the poor and community-based organizations and clinics, said Supervisor Nate Miley, who is spearheading the initiative.

The medical center, which includes Highland and Fairmont hospitals in Oakland and San Leandro; John George Psychiatric Pavilion in Oakland; and outpatient clinics in Oakland, Hayward and Newark, is facing a $51 million budget deficit.

The poll shows support for the measure across supervisorial districts, and that voters see keeping public hospitals and clinics open as a high priority. The measure must pass by a two-thirds vote for the tax to be implemented.

The deadline for such a measure to get onto the March ballot is Dec. 5. A resolution to put the measure on the ballot is pend-ing, and supervisors could vote on it on Nov. 25.

By then, they must craft a measure that will be palatable to voters and will include the policy they need to cover the bills for county-sponsored health care. And they need to come up with some answers as to how the money they're requesting will be spent.

Based on the poll's results, the county should:

Place a measure on the ballot that reflected language used in the poll. Poll-takers asked if the county should implement a half-cent sales tax "to maintain trauma and emergency medical services, to provide primary, preventative and mental health services to seniors, low-income and uninsured residents and to keep county clinics open."

Avoid including a time limit, at least in the ballot question wording. Some voters might think the time limit is too short, and others too long, said Ruth Bernstein of Evans/McDonough. And many feel the government won't adhere to it anyway, said Larry Tramutola, a noted political consultant working with county officials.

Include a required annual review of spending plan components.

The county will not have to shape any ballot measure as a homeland security or emergency preparation measure, the poll found. Los Angeles voters approved a similar measure billed that way, Tramutola said.

Contact Michele R. Marcucci at mmarcucci@angnewspapers.com.