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Hospital Sues For Lower Tax Bill

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By CHRISTIAN M. WADE, The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 22, 2008

Updated: 02/22/2008 10:57 am

NEW PORT RICHEY - The owners of Community Hospital don't think their aging facility on Grand Boulevard is worth as much as the Pasco County property appraiser says it is.

On Thursday, the hospital's parent company, HCA Health Services of Florida Inc., filed a lawsuit against Property Appraiser Mike Wells, Tax Collector Mike Olson and the Florida Department of Revenue contesting a $20.5 million tax assessment for 2007.

Last year, the hospital asked Special Magistrate Rick Rape to reduce the assessment by more than $14 million. The hospital had paid a $422,325 tax bill based on that value.

The magistrate agreed and cut the assessment for the 24-acre property - with its 300,000-square-foot medical building and adjacent office space - to roughly $6 million.

But when the ruling came up for review, the Pasco County Value Adjustment Board sided with the county appraiser's estimation and restored the initial assessment.

In the lawsuit, filed in Pasco Circuit Court, the hospital claims Wells' appraisal is "unlawful and invalid" because it failed to consider "criteria" established by state statute.

They want a judge to order a reassessment of the Grand Boulevard and Marine Parkway property, and to require the tax collector to issue a new bill based on that valuation.

A spokeswoman for Community Hospital could not be reached for comment Thursday.

Wells said he stands behind the initial assessment and plans to fight the lawsuit.

"That property alone is worth more than $6 million, for goodness sakes," he said. "That hospital is worth every penny of that $20.5 million and probably well more than that."

HCA Health Services, which is based in Nashville, Tenn., is also the parent company for Regional Medical Center Bayonet Point, making it one of Pasco's largest corporate taxpayers.

Bayonet Point challenged its tax assessment in 1995, arguing that the value of the Hudson-area hospital had been overestimated and asking for a $4.7 million reduction.

But the value adjustment board, comprising three county commissioners and two school board members, declined to consider the health care group's appeal.

Community Hospital is in the process of relocating to Trinity. The new hospital, to be called Trinity Medical Centre, will occupy a $205 million complex with a five-story main building and an attached three-story office building at State Road 54 and Little Road.

But the move to the new property, originally targeted for June 2008, has been delayed because of construction setbacks. The relocation date is now 2010.

And hospital executives have previously hinted they might be looking to maintain an emergency room on the New Port Richey site after they move into the new complex.

If the lawsuit is successful, one of the biggest losers could be New Port Richey. Besides being the city's largest employer, the hospital is the No. 1 taxpayer, pumping more than $250,000 a year into both the general fund and the community redevelopment fund.

Reporter Todd Leskanic contributed to this report. Reporter Christian M. Wade can be reached at (727) 815-1082 or cwade@tampatrib.com.

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