Delegates pitch tax increase to save Prince George’s hospital

Staff members for County Executive Jack B. Johnson testified that the bill could hurt the county’s bond rating, and would have ‘‘no regard” for county taxpayers.

The bill would establish a five-member ‘‘hospital authority” board, appointed by the governor, that would have the ability to negotiate the transfer of the hospital system’s assets to another healthcare manager and impose a property tax to pay off its debt. The bill would not require these actions, but would empower the hospital authority to use those options.

‘‘In the end, there is no free lunch,” Niemann said after Friday’s vote. He said the county tax would make the hospital system more attractive to healthcare managers who have avoided offering to take over the system because of its massive debt of about $150 million.

The hospital has struggled with its debt and annual financial shortfalls for years, periodically threatening to close its doors to the thousands of uninsured patients it serves. The county government just transferred another $5 million last month to keep the hospital open through March.

Johnson says he has a plan to save the hospital system, which he is expected to announce next week. But state lawmakers have been kept in the dark about the proposal, and say they must act now to stabilize the hospital.

‘‘If we want this hospital, this is what we have to do,” Del. Dereck Davis (D-Dist. 25) of Mitchellville said of Niemann’s bill, during an at-times passionate debate with county officials in Annapolis. ‘‘If we lose it, it’s on us.”

Maryland Health Secretary John Colmers has said he wants to see Niemann’s idea approved before recommending that the state put up any money toward a long-term plan.

‘‘The payoff of not just saving the hospital, but creating a totally new system ... could be infinitely greater,” Niemann said. ‘‘The goal is not to maintain what we have, because that won’t work. We are talking about creating something that is fundamentally different — state of the art facilities, able to serve those who need the coverage without bankrupting everybody else.”

But are county taxpayers willing to pay for it?

The proposed property tax increase would obligate county taxpayers to pay about $12 million annually for 20 years, according to county budget director Jonathan Seeman.

Niemann originally said there would be no need for a property tax increase, because the county could use revenue it already had. But after objections from some lawmakers that the county may not be able to afford the payments on its current budget, Niemann added an amendment permitting a tax increase. The amendment would allow the state to circumvent the county’s property tax cap, known as TRIM.

Activist Judy Robinson, a vocal supporter of TRIM, said Friday that she’s already lobbying against the hospital authority bill.

‘‘They have spit in the faces of ... voters in their county,” Robinson said of the delegation. ‘‘At the state legislature, the voters of Prince George’s don’t matter, and what they want doesn’t matter.”

The bill now goes before the House Health and Government Operations Committee.