A 63% tax hike on Austin homeowners to pay for a new UT medical school?

[seedrpaul]

http://www.statesman.com/news/local/health-board-poised-to-ask-voters-for-5-2434495.html
The board met with Central Health staffers for five hours Saturday — all but 30 minutes of which were closed to the public and press — to get advice from their lawyers about the proposed tax increase, the federal program and an agreement that is being crafted between Central Health, the Seton Healthcare Family and the University of Texas to collaborate on a medical school.
Whether Travis County taxpayers would approve a 63 percent hike in their property tax rate, from 7.89 cents per $100 of assessed value to 12.89 cents, remains to be seen. Most property owners who have contacted the American-Statesman in recent days called the proposal ill-timed, saying that the economy remains fragile, that property taxes already are too high and that Travis taxpayers shouldn't be asked to help pay for a medical school.
UT System regents have pledged $25 million a year for a medical school, plus $5 million annually for eight years to buy equipment, with one caveat: The community must raise another $35 million a year. UT-Austin is calling on Central Health to come up with that share.

http://www.readthehorn.com/campus/4362/ut_turns_endowment_into_solid_gold
The University of Texas Investment Management Co., the endowment behind UT, took a big step recently by converting almost $1 billion of its assets into gold bars to be stored in a New York vault. The UT endowment is the second largest academic endowment in the country, estimated last August to be about $19.9 billion, trailing only Harvard in total assets.

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[iforget2]

A ton of premeds will be swarming Austin when it's completed. Good thing I'll be long gone by then

 

[NickNaylor]

Makes sense. It astounds me that UT Austin doesn't already have a medical school. Maybe there's a lack of clinical facilities available, who knows, but I wouldn't think so considering the size of Austin.

 

[deleted393595]

Makes sense. It astounds me that UT Austin doesn't already have a medical school. Maybe there's a lack of clinical facilities available, who knows, but I wouldn't think so considering the size of Austin.

I've heard that some hospitals there have spots for residencies and fellowships, but I don't understand the logic behind adding another med school since it won't be increasing the number of residency spots.

 

[sliceofbread136]

Makes sense. It astounds me that UT Austin doesn't already have a medical school. Maybe there's a lack of clinical facilities available, who knows, but I wouldn't think so considering the size of Austin.

I don't think so, there are quite a few hospitals around austin.

 

[pkwraith]

It seems strange to make the county carry that massive burden. If anything, the state of Texas should carry that share, since the county isn't the only benefactor of the move (not to the tune of 60% of the costs).

I'd be fairly annoyed if I were a homeowner in that county and would vote it down.

 

[sebass]

Austin should have a medical school, but that tax hike is ridiculous. I would also vote it down if I was a property owner there.

 

[UrshumMurshum]

Austin needs a medical school, it's ridiculous that in a city that size we have to ship complex cases to San Antonio/Houston.

 

[moneytree]

Austin needs a medical school, it's ridiculous that in a city that size we have to ship complex cases to San Antonio/Houston.

Not a real city until you get a major league sports franchise.

 

[UrshumMurshum]

Not a real city until you get a major league sports franchise.

The longhorns are bigger than most major league sports franchises.

 

[thesauce]

Austin needs a medical school, it's ridiculous that in a city that size we have to ship complex cases to San Antonio/Houston.

How would a med school change that? If the medical facilities aren't available, adding med students isn't going to make a difference. If the facilities are available, they could handle complex cases now.

 

[tankgunner]

austin already has one of highest property tax rates in the u.s., and they want homeowners to pay for a $4.1 billion taj mahal whose real cost ut officials have tried to keep secret?
http://www.statesman.com/news/local...-1-billion-2428683.html?viewAsSinglePage=true
btw this article says austin has 100 utsw students rotating there + 210 utsw residents

 

[Bojack Horseman]

UTMB sends ~70 3rd year students to rotate in Austin every year (more students would go but spots are limited) and UTSW runs the Austin residency programs (probably because of the hurricane devastating UTMB?). Anywho, I agree with the poster above who said that it's pointless to open a new school unless you increase residency spots.


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[Poetic Silence]

What's the point of another medical school? Shouldn't we be investing in more residency programs?

 

[moneytree]

What's the point of another medical school? Shouldn't we be investing in more residency programs?

Maybe this is a dumb question, but won't a new medical school--likely with an attached academic hospital(?)--mean adding a medical school presumably also adds residency slots?

 

[Bojack Horseman]

Maybe this is a dumb question, but won't a new medical school--likely with an attached academic hospital(?)--mean adding a medical school presumably also adds residency slots?

Residency spots require funding from the federal government, broski. Without that funding, schools can't afford to open more residency spots.


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[NickNaylor]

Maybe this is a dumb question, but won't a new medical school--likely with an attached academic hospital(?)--mean adding a medical school presumably also adds residency slots?

Yeah, as Random mentioned above, the two aren't at all related.

 

[Praefectus]

Residency spots require funding from the federal government, broski. Without that funding, schools can't afford to open more residency spots.

Yep. Somehow, that funding comes from Medicare/Medicaid money.

 

[UrshumMurshum]

How would a med school change that? If the medical facilities aren't available, adding med students isn't going to make a difference. If the facilities are available, they could handle complex cases now.

I imagine they'd build the academic facilities with the medical school.

 

[Cornu Ammonis]

austin already has one of highest property tax rates in the u.s., and they want homeowners to pay for a $4.1 billion taj mahal whose real cost ut officials have tried to keep secret?
http://www.statesman.com/news/local...-1-billion-2428683.html?viewAsSinglePage=true
btw this article says austin has 100 utsw students rotating there + 210 utsw residents

This is absolute BS. Here are the rates: http://www.co.travis.tx.us/tax_assessor/rates/default.asp

Compare them nationally to the highest in the country, which are like 4%. 2%-3% is not rare at all. If I had to guess, I would say these are actually some pretty low property tax rates.

The problem with property taxes and something that makes them an easy target for these "highest in the country!" claims is that they tend to be higher as a percent of the assessed value in poorer areas in order to raise adequate levies, while they are also generally high in absolute values for rich neighborhoods because of the higher property values. Of course, there's also the fact that these claims are almost never qualified regardless of the numbers. Thus, there's always an angle of attack for complaints about property taxes.

Edit: Just to prove my point, the median home value in Austin is ~$218,000. Assuming the highest tax rate on that list, along with some fudging of the assessed values up to $250,000 as assessors often do, that's still only $3825 per year. In my town, with a nearly identical median household income and assessed value, we pay $9000 per year.

 

[thesauce]

I imagine they'd build the academic facilities with the medical school.

Don't count on it. They could do this without a medical school and they might not do this even with a medical school.

 

[circulus vitios]

Yep. Somehow, that funding comes from Medicare/Medicaid money.

I still can't figure out how residency training costs the hospital money. Residents are paid what, $60-70k/year, including benefits (I assume they get benefits)? Obviously junior residents are "worthless," but the senior residents should more than make up for themselves than the junior residents.

 

[sector9]

Residency spots require funding from the federal government, broski. Without that funding, schools can't afford to open more residency spots.


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Yeah, as Random mentioned above, the two aren't at all related.

Yep. Somehow, that funding comes from Medicare/Medicaid money.

Not entirely true. Medicare has had a cap on the number of residency slots that they'll fund since 1996. Hospitals are free to hire more residents without getting approval from Medicare but that money comes from the hospital and/or from dividing up their current Medicare funding even more. Medicare won't increase the amount that the hospital receives based on current resident numbers

Hospitals used to pay resident's salaries from their own coffers for years but now get Medicare money to help pay for residents. Some researchers have determined that the limiting aspect of increasing residency slots is actually due to the Residency Review Committees for each residency, who have a strong motive to keep numbers low in order to inflate wages

 

[RouteMD]

63% tax hike... ouch. I can't imagine that Austin is an overly cheap place to live as it is.

 

[thesauce]

63% tax hike... ouch. I can't imagine that Austin is an overly cheap place to live as it is.

It is. Also, it's consistently ranked one of the best places to live/move/retire in the US.

 

[Bojack Horseman]

It is. Also, it's consistently ranked one of the best places to live/move/retire in the US.

Everything's good, minus the traffic and parking.

 

[Cornu Ammonis]

63% tax hike... ouch. I can't imagine that Austin is an overly cheap place to live as it is.

63% of a small amount is still a small amount. I remember a few years ago in Colorado Springs they refused to increase property taxes because the percent amount proposed was so high, but the absolute amount was ridiculously small, like $80 per year. The result was that around half the city had to turn off street lights at night and lots of services were shut down.

 

[Bojack Horseman]

The result was that around half the city had to turn off street lights at night and lots of services were shut down.

Good thing we're talking about a medical school then....

 

[rawkfist]

Hook'em

 

[Cornu Ammonis]

Good thing we're talking about a medical school then....

I'm not saying opening a medical school is a good idea; that kind of decision is way beyond me; I'm just saying the tax hike should be assessed properly. Besides, in the grand scheme of things, the taxes are much less concerning than bond issuances and accompanying financial wizardry.

 

[SoonerFromTexas]

Hook'em

Boomer 😛

 

[Danbo1957]

Just thought that I'd update this thread concerning Austin taxes in support of the medical school. The most important part of the enterprise is that the replacement teaching hospital is the de facto county hospital and will be staffed by UT-A Dell Medical School physicians, nurses, and personnel.

http://www.utexas.edu/dell-medical-school/faqs/community-value