Minnesota's largest level-one trauma hospital is in need of a transfusion of money.
Leaders with Hennepin Healthcare and Hennepin County went before a Senate Committee Tuesday to ask the state to approve a one cent sales tax for Hennepin County that they say could cover the cost.
"It's a source of revenue that's stable," says Hennepin County Commissioner Angela Conley. "We can't rely on property taxes to do it. In fact, we wouldn't be able to levy high enough to do it, and we can't put that burden on the backs of property taxpayers. So we are very limited in the amount of revenue or income that comes in."
Officials with Hennepin Healthcare say that the hospital has already cut $50 million from the budget this year. They say there's another $150 million to cut before the year is over.
"I need a health tax to keep this hospital open. There's no other way to do it, so one cent health tax will keep this hospital stabilized. It will bring in the revenue that we need ongoing," Conley added.
She says the facility will not have enough money to exist beyond the end of the year.
Earlier in February, Hennepin County Commissioner Jeff Lunde told Blois Olson on WCCO's Sunday Take that despite the hospital system being based in downtown Minneapolis and strictly in Hennepin County, their trauma center serves the entire state. Lunde says 40% of their patients come from outside the county.
"The percentage of people who come from outside Hennepin to our hospital, and we receive them, we give them great care, we welcome them, but all the costs are borne by the property tax owners in Hennepin County," he adds. "And so, that sales tax allows us to capture, and according to our calculations, probably about 24% of the sales tax would come from outside Hennepin. And we think that's fair."