With the sale of Logan Medical Center to Mercy Health System of Oklahoma, residents of Guthrie and Logan County will soon see the sales tax lowered. However, the timing of that has yet to be determined.
The Logan County Commissioners approved and signed the definitive agreement on August 29th after the Logan Medical Center Board of Trustees unanimously approved the asset purchase agreement for the sale in a special meeting on August 27th. The total sale price of the hospital came in at $7.26 million dollars.
The county is the beneficiary of the LMC Trust and owns the building along with the 20 acres it sits on which will also be sold.
The sale is tentatively scheduled to be final at the end of September. After the final sale, the County sales tax would be reduced by 43% and the total sales tax in Guthrie would go down from 9.25% to 8.5%.
County Commissioner and Chairman Mark Sharpton said Lowell Barto, the Assistant District Attorney, is checking into how quick the tax can be lowered. Sharpton went on to say, “The Oklahoma Tax Commission needs enough time to inform all of the tax collectors.”
Sharpton said he would like to see the sales revenue invested and use the profit of investments to help fund roads and bridges. However, he said that needs to be developed with advisers that specialize in making money securely.
I think the tax would be at 8.75%. We used to be at 9.5% and they returned .25% leaving us currently at 9.25%
I think the tax started years ago as a full cent making the tax 8.5%, (in Guthrie proper)Then Logan County got in for another cent for the jail making the total 9.5%,The hospital then dropped .25 cent bringing our total down to 9.25%. When the hospital drops the other .75% we will be down to 8.5%. It is interesting to note that most counties do not get into the sales tax arena, leaving room for municipalities to grow when needed. Logan County is now into sales tax for the second time, the good news is the latest endeavor does have a sundown clause as opposed to the hospital tax which could have gone on forever.