Park County voters soundly defeated a proposed $14.2 million special purpose tax for renovations at West Park Hospital in Cody, with some 67.7 percent of voters opposing the measure. Just 32.3 percent voted in favor of the project.“Evidently, we didn't do an adequate job of convincing voters to support the project,” said Carol Lea Roberts, West Park board chairman, on Wednesday. Roberts said there were a lot of misunderstandings in the community about how the nonprofit hospital operates.

The tax failed in all but two of the county's 29 precincts, and was met with particularly strong resistance outside Cody. In and around Powell, some 84 percent of voters opposed the measure.

The tax would have been collected through a temporary, additional 1-cent sales tax in the county.

West Park officials say the hospital current facilities, constructed some 38 years ago, are outdated and too crowded for today's Cody and county populations. The $26.2 million project would have included $14.2 million from the sales tax and $12 million from the nonprofit hospital's reserves. It would have made extensive renovations and additions, affecting more than 110,000 square feet in emergency, imaging, laboratory and financial services departments and creating space for future growth.

West Park's project got off to a confusing start in January, when hospital officials initially proposed a $50 million special purpose tax, which included $10 million for improvements at the county's landfills. But most of those working on a possible landfill tax at the time were caught off guard by the proposal and West Park officials heard complaints that the project was too large and would take too long to pay off.

Revised cost estimates, plus the removal of the money for the landfill and the hospital's decision to chip in $12 million from reserves brought the proposed tax down to $14.2 million. That figure ended up on the ballot.

Though the hospital has its own special property tax district, which includes the Cody and Meeteetse areas, West Park officials said the facility serves the entire county.

Powell Valley Hospital has its own tax district that includes the Powell area. The Powell Valley Hospital Board declined to endorse West Park's proposal.

The hospitals have the ability to seek a general obligation bond from voters within its district to pay for improvement; the bond would be paid for through additional property taxes.

West Park board members and officials had pitched the special purpose tax as a much better funding option than a bond because up to 30 percent would be paid by tourists and the quicker collection time would result in lower financing costs.

Critics, such as the Powell-based Citizens for Responsible Taxation group, had said now is not an appropriate time for a new tax and that the hospital should stick to its tax district for funding. At a forum last week in Cody, the Responsible Taxation group's treasurer, Larry French, said an additional 1-cent sales tax would have hurt agricultural producers.

West Park Hospital's board meets next week and will discuss alternate ways to pay for the project, Roberts said.

“Of course we're disappointed, but we're going to regroup and determine what the next-best plan is,” she said, adding that the improvements — especially to the hospital's emergency room — remain needed.

She noted that with the failure of the special purpose tax, West Park will not receive $1 million the State Loan and Investment Board had conditionally pledged to the project.

“It will be a bigger challenge now,” Roberts said.