Proposed hospital could be on tax rolls

Waukesha Freeman, Mar. 2, 2006

By KOLLIN KOSMICKI
Freeman Staff
kkosmicki@ conleynet.com

WAUKESHA - City planners received blueprints this week for a 62-bed acute-care hospital in Waukesha that would not only provide a new service here but also could generate hundreds of thousands of dollars in annual tax revenue.

Texas-based LifeCare Hospitals submitted its plans to the city Tuesday, less than a week after the Waukesha Common Council approved a rezoning of the 40-acre property adjacent to GE Healthcares corporate headquarters.

The building nearly 70,000 square feet on two levels, one above ground and another on the downside of a slope would provide what a company official called a practical design focusing on patient care rather than extravagance.

Wed rather put the financial resources at the patient bedside, said Steve Schultz, a Milwaukee area executive for the company.

But perhaps even more enticing for city officials may be potential tax generation from a building the company has estimated at $15 million in value along with an array of equipment and other items that also would be taxable as personal property.

LifeCare representatives have said the hospital would function as a for-profit operation, meaning it would be subject to taxation unlike other area hospitals.

At the 2006 tax rate for that area of $18.25 per $1,000 in property value, the estimated $15 million in additional property value would come to $273,750 that would go to the city, county and other entities.
LifeCare has yet to estimate costs for equipment and other personal property, making it impossible to estimate its potential tax impact, Schultz said.

He did say the equipment and other property would carry a tremendous amount of expense in the millions of dollars. Personal property also would be taxed at the $18.25 mill rate, city Assessor Paul Klauck said.

Schultz also said the $15 million estimate for the building isnt firm yet and was based on other LifeCare projects throughout the country.

The proposal is to move Life-Cares existing acute-care business from St. Josephs Regional Medical Center in Milwaukee to Waukesha. Such centers treat extremely ill patients who often have respiratory problems and severe wounds and need extended visits.

The companys design also emphasizes openness, as more than 80 percent of the land would be designated as green space, according to the proposal. LifeCare and its engineers must work around a wetlands running through the property as well.

We wanted to make sure we kept as much of the beauty of the parcel as we could, Schultz said.

City Planner Mike Hoeft said Wednesday officials had yet to review the plans in detail. LifeCare must go back to the plan commission, which next meets Wednesday, for review of its preliminary plans.