Letters: Taxpayers shouldn't fund Wall Street failures

I was right. At the last Mercy Hospital District finance committee meeting, it was admitted that $306,000 was lost in the stock market account for 2018. They took $500,000 in tax money from five townships and three little cities and lost $306,000 of it playing in the stock market.

State Statute 447.34 “Payment of expenses; taxation” states in Subd 2 “on or before September 15 of each year, the hospital board shall decide the amount necessary to be raised from ad valorem tax levies to meet its expenses.” Since when is gambling on the stock market a legitimate expense? The 2018 tax levy should be refunded, as it is clear it was not needed to run the hospital.

Mercy Board chairperson and Windemere Township representative Kelly Goeb, at-large representative and treasurer Joanne Collier and Kalevala representative and vice chair Gail Longhorst are three of the four members on the finance committee. They are also three of the four members on the executive committee. These three women write the bylaws and control the finance committee. They are directly responsible for the condition of the hospital and its finances.

The drop-dead date for canceling the 2020 $500,000 tax levy is Jan. 2, 2020. It’s up to all of you to make enough noise to stop this ongoing ripoff.

Sue Pedersen, Mercy Hospital Board representative for Silver Township