Northern Cochise Community Hospital asks voters to continue tax district funding

Residents in Willcox, San Simon, Bowie, Cochise and Pearce are being asked to decide whether Northern Cochise Community Hospital should continue receiving dedicated property tax funding. The decision matters beyond the hospital district itself because the facility provides emergency care, inpatient services, imaging and other medical support in a rural part of southeastern Arizona, where traveling to Tucson can mean a lengthy and potentially costly trip. Hospital leaders say the tax is essential to keeping those services available around the clock.

The hospital district has operated since 1969, and voters must reauthorize the tax every five years. The measure was last presented in 2021. Hospital officials say the tax generated approximately $2 million during the most recent year, helping Northern Cochise Community Hospital remain financially positive. Without that money, administrators say they would have to evaluate which services could continue, although the hospital did not identify specific programs that would be eliminated.

Chief Executive Officer Gary Kartchner said the funding helps cover the fixed expenses that come with operating a hospital continuously, regardless of how many patients are being treated at a given moment. Staffing, equipment and maintaining a functioning facility do not become less expensive when patient numbers fall, he said. In a rural community with a smaller patient census, that revenue can make the difference between maintaining a broad range of care and scaling back services.

The proposed tax is slightly more than 1 percent for every $100 of assessed property value, according to hospital officials. They say the rate has not changed since the district was created. The charge applies within the hospital district, which includes the five communities listed in Cochise County, rather than across the entire county. Voters who live outside those boundaries will not be deciding the hospital district question.

Hospital officials also point to improvements made possible by the funding, including updated X-ray equipment. Larry Engelhardt, the hospital’s imaging director, said local access to that technology can spare patients a trip to Tucson for certain examinations and related care. For residents in communities east of Tucson, that convenience can also reduce the time, transportation costs and logistical challenges involved in arranging medical treatment outside the region.

The hospital’s supporters describe the facility as both a health care resource and an economic asset. Willcox Vice Mayor Timothy Bowlby said maintaining the hospital benefits the whole community, including residents who may not use it regularly. Emergency room treatment and so-called swing-bed care, which can support patients who need continued care after an acute hospitalization, may be needed unexpectedly by any family, neighbor or worker in the district.

Kartchner cautioned that losing the tax revenue could have effects beyond the immediate loss of individual services. If care is unavailable locally, some patients may not be able to obtain it at all or may delay treatment, he said. That can result in more expensive care later. For Tucson residents and health care providers, the issue also illustrates the broader regional role of rural hospitals. When a rural facility loses capacity, patients may be referred to hospitals in larger cities, adding pressure to those systems and requiring families to travel farther.

The hospital vote is one of several local decisions facing Arizona voters in a year without statewide ballot measures or major statewide offices. The Arizona Secretary of State’s Office lists Election Day in 2025 as Nov. 4, while the KGUN report on the hospital measure identifies the election as scheduled for Nov. 3. Early voting is underway. Across the state, voters in 10 counties are considering measures involving taxes, bonds, school budgets and local government. In Cochise County, other questions include a proposed half-cent sales tax to help build and finance county jail facilities, along with a Willcox Unified School District request to exceed its maintenance and operations budget limit by 10 percent for seven years.

The ballot choices in and around Tucson show how local elections can involve decisions about essential public services even when no statewide race is drawing attention. Tucson Unified School District voters are being asked to approve a maintenance and operations override equal to 15 percent of the district’s revenue control limit for the 2026 to 2027 school year and six additional years. Flowing Wells and Sunnyside voters are considering bond measures for school construction, renovations and campus improvements. Tucson voters also face a proposal to adopt an updated city General Plan, a document that municipalities are required to revise every 10 years. In Northern Cochise County, the hospital district question presents a similar decision about whether residents are willing to continue a dedicated local tax to preserve a public service close to home.