Government structureHospital district boundary expansion
Brings land in eastern Custer County, outside the district and the Rye Fire Protection District, into the West Custer County Hospital District; the ballot states no conditions, tax or rate.
West Custer County Hospital District
Kim's Recommendation
NO
Vote No on West Custer County Hospital District Ballot Issue 6A
If 6A passes, the Tribune reports, owners of the included land take on the same 7.908-mill levy the rest of the district pays, and two directors say it cannot be split. That levy pays for the clinic and the ambulance service together. An eastern owner who wants an ambulance to come also carries the cost of a family-practice clinic, whether the household uses it or not.
I hold that a tax on a family's property belongs on the ballot in figures, with the services it pays for stated. This question offers neither, and it brings new land under one levy that pays for a medical practice and emergency coverage together. I oppose 6A because it extends one levy for a clinic and an ambulance service to new land, and gives eastern owners no way to pay for one without the other.
I recommend a no vote on West Custer County Hospital District Ballot Issue 6A.
Kim Monson
Host, The Kim Monson Show · President, Colorado Union of Taxpayers · Colorado Voter's Guide 2026
Certified ballot question
Inclusion of East Custer County/Wetmore Area
Shall the following described area become a part of the West Custer County Hospital District upon the following conditions, if any? Description of Area: All real property located in eastern Custer County and not presently located within the service territory of either the West Custer County Hospital District or the Rye Fire Protection District. Summary of Conditions: None.
A yes vote means
Real property in eastern Custer County not now in the West Custer County Hospital District or the Rye Fire Protection District would join the hospital district.
A no vote means
That property would stay outside the hospital district.
The Wetmore Area Inclusion01
Question 6A, printed under the title "Inclusion of East Custer County/Wetmore Area," decides whether all real property in eastern Custer County that is not presently within the service territory of either the West Custer County Hospital District or the Rye Fire Protection District becomes part of the hospital district. The ballot prints the summary of conditions as "None." It states no tax, rate, dollar amount or service. The choices are "FOR INCLUSION" and "AGAINST INCLUSION."
The district's board held a public hearing on the inclusion on May 28, 2026, then voted unanimously to send it to the ballot, according to its minutes.
The Levy on Included Land02
The Wet Mountain Tribune reported that if the measure passes, property owners in eastern Custer County "would be agreeing to pay the same 7.908 mill levy that West Custer County pays to support the Hospital District, covering operations for the medical clinic and Custer County EMS." The district's levy resolution for 2026 confirms the 7.908-mill rate. Figures put forward at the district's May 20 town hall in Wetmore placed the added operating revenue at approximately $46,000 a year, the paper reported.
At the May 28 hearing, directors Alvarado and Terry said the district had looked at splitting the mill levy for eastern residents and determined that it cannot be done. Asbury, a staff member at the hearing, said the clinic is a family practice, not an emergency facility.
Most residents at the town hall signaled opposition to paying the levy, the paper reported. At the hearing, one resident said the ambulance and clinic should not be lumped together, and two others said EMS should be a pay-as-you-go service; the minutes also record many positive comments on the clinic and the EMS crew.
Ambulance Coverage East of McKenzie Junction03
According to the Tribune, volunteer EMS from Florence covered the eastern county until 2019, when word came that Florence would no longer cover the area. Custer County EMS has covered it since, with no funding from the area's residents; the paper reports 35 calls to points in eastern Custer County in 2025. At the board's June 25 meeting, EMS Manager Banning reported 24 calls involving eastern Custer County residents so far in 2026, according to the minutes.
Terry told residents that included owners would get access to the clinic and guaranteed EMS coverage, the Tribune reported. Asked at the town hall what would happen if the question failed, Terry said, "We have no duty to act outside of district boundaries," and "We are going to stop providing service past McKenzie Junction." The Tribune reported that he and a district staff member also called that an unpalatable decision, possibly open to legal challenge under the 1988 agreement by which the county ceded ambulance service to the district.
A June 5, 2026 Wet Mountain Tribune news story reports on a May 20 town hall where the West Custer County Hospital District proposed a November 3, 2026 measure to include east Custer County at the 7.908 mill levy, and residents largely voiced opposition.
