.jpg)
How much value do you put on a hospital? For the Bellevue Medical Center, there are several ways to look at that question -- and it could cost taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Channel 6 News Fact Finders have learned that because of a clerical error in the Sarpy County Assessor's office -- the hospital may not end up being on the tax rolls this year when everyone was expecting it to be there.
So that means about a dozen taxing entities could be out a lot of money that had been budgeted for.
For the county board alone, it would be out $200,000.
The county assessor is pushing for the hospital to be taxed this year. But hospital officials say wait a minute.
The county has the hospital assessed at $80-million.
Bellevue Medical Center officials say it should be half that -- $40-million -- arguing further that because of the clerical error, the hospital has not been given an opportunity to protest the valuation.
So, we are left with several possibilities.
The hospital could be taxed at $80-million this year, or if given a chance to appeal this year, $40-million or another lesser amount.
Another option is no taxes until this year -- leaving those taxing entities the job of cutting their budgets.
