County wins health care tax, buys office building

"The county is buying a 231,579-square-foot, 10-story building at 1410 S. Bascom Ave., in San Jose that it had been leasing. The building, which will house doctors and medical services, is next to VTA light rail station and down the street from Valley Medical Hospital. In order to buy the building, pay for the seismic upgrades and pay off an earlier bond issue, the county is going into debt. It will sell $450,000 in tax-exempt bonds that will have a 30-year term."

"Buying real estate was not mentioned in the county's ballot title for Measure A, the 0.625% sales tax increase voters approved in November. Instead, the measure's focus was on filling gaps created by cuts in federal Medicaid (Medi-Cal) funding, mainly Obamacare. Still, the county could argue that funding for the building is coming out of a different pocket than the money needed to run the hospitals."

Santa Clara County will purchase a 231,579-square-foot, 10-story medical office building at 1410 S. Bascom Ave. that it had been leasing, adjacent to Valley Medical Hospital and a VTA light rail station. The county plans seismic upgrades to existing hospital buildings and will sell $450,000 in tax-exempt bonds with a 30-year term to finance the acquisition, upgrades, and payoff of an earlier bond. County finance figures project annual debt repayment at $22.9 million versus $25.5 million in lease costs. Public concerns include loss of $1.1 million in annual property tax revenue and whether Measure A covered real estate purchases. Federal Medicaid rule changes focus on work requirements rather than large funding cuts.

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