Consistent. Principled. Action.

Citizens,

Campaign activities are in full swing. Multiple precinct walks happen every Saturday, there are well over 300 volunteers doing many tasks, and the Elections Office has temporary employees processing new registration cards daily. This will be an exciting election in Collin County! Sarah Palin charged this campaign with new energy, and it continues to reverberate across the entire country. Let's use that energy and our great candidates from the top of the ballot to the bottom to elect Republicans from the Collin County Courthouse to the White House!
If you can help out, please call headquarters at (972) 540-5985.

Registration must be done by October 6, a week from today, if you or your friends plan to vote on November 4. Let's keep those Republican registrations flowing into the Elections Office.

For a more complete listing of events between now and Election Day, consult the calendar on the Collin County Republican Headquarters web site at http://www.collincountygop.com/Calendar.aspx

McCain-Palin signs and stickers are in short supply, so call now to check the status and to get yours.

Keep up the energy contacting your friends and family to register and vote. We have two sitting Republican commissioners who have Democrat opponents, Joe Jaynes and Kathy Ward. They need the support of the entire Republican base as we defend our Republican values here in Collin County. Joe, of course, is running for re-election, while Kathy was elected by the precinct chairmen of her precinct to be their nominee on the general election ballot. Now is the time to rally behind all our Republican candidates in the general election.

Budget

I have much to tell you about the budget, but it will have to wait until after the election. I believe that you will be pleased with the budget that we passed. Just a hint: you now have BOTH a new 5% homestead exemption AND a new 1/4 cent county tax rate decrease.

Transportation

There is a great deal of negotiations going on behind the scenes, and I hope that before January, we will have good news on the SH121 funds coming to the region.

If you are in the Farmersville area on Saturday morning, I hope to see you at the parade and the unveiling of the Texas Historical Marker celebrating Audie Murphy.

Sincerely,
Keith

Fellow citizens,

On Thursday, September 11, I testified before the Texas Senate Subcommittee on General Government Issues, a subcommittee of the Senate Finance Committee, on the issue of funding for public hospitals and the role of surrounding counties. You may see my testimony at http://www.senate.state.tx.us/75r/Senate/commit/c540/c540.htm

As background, there will be another effort during the next legislative session to include Collin County in a taxing hospital district to support Parkland Hospital in Dallas - normally justified because of an urban legend that Collin County does not pay for treatment for indigents that seek treatment at Parkland. The urban legend is false.

Prepared statement by County Judge Keith Self, Collin County, before the Senate Subcommittee on General Government Issues, September 11, 2008

Quote:

Mr. Chairman, thank you for taking my testimony on a subject that is vitally important to the future of Collin County.

First, let me dispel an urban legend that circulates time and time again around the Dallas area, much like we occasionally hear of the Loch Ness Monster or Bigfoot. Some routinely regurgitate stories that Collin County somehow does not pay for treatment provided to Collin County indigent citizens by Parkland Hospital.

The truth is that Collin County pays for all treatment provided by Parkland Hospital to Collin County indigents. In fact, Collin County pays for indigent healthcare at 100% of federal poverty level, almost 5 times the state-mandated 21% of FPL. I have here the letters that I wrote to the Dallas County Judge each month, detailing the payments we made to Parkland Hospital during 2008. The urban legend that thousands of Collin County citizens are flooding Parkland Hospital and somehow causing financial harm to Parkland is false.

Rather than debating what Collin County ought to pay Parkland Hospital, I want to focus on the small number of Collin County patients for which Parkland requests payment from Collin County. During the current fiscal year-to-date, Collin County Health Care Services has received 108 referrals from Parkland Hospital. Just 108. And that is a precipitous drop from the 533 referrals received last year. In this case, a referral is a request by Parkland for payment for treatment provided to a patient who was unable to pay for that treatment. Now, 108 patients is an infinitesimal number compared to the yearly patient load at Parkland. I will also submit a list to the committee staff that itemizes the amounts billed and paid to Parkland Hospital for our citizens. The total amount billed for the current fiscal year is $205,128.41 and the total amount paid based on approved Medicaid rates is $68,348.75 YTD. Of course, these 108 patients could be either uninsured or indigent; we pay for verified indigents per state law.

Collin County is one of the fastest growing counties in the nation - 8th fastest by raw numbers, the fastest by percentage growth among large counties. We grow by approximately 5% every year. Now 750,000 in population, Collin County can, and increasingly does, take care of our own. Home to 7 hospitals, with several more under construction, Collin County has the healthcare infrastructure to provide necessary care in our county. One indication that we are providing for our citizens is the significant decrease in referrals from Parkland Hospital of 533 in FY 2007, to the 108 referrals this year-to-date.

Collin County hospitals treat vastly larger numbers of patients who are unable to pay for their treatment. One Collin County Emergency Room receives approximately 25,000 ER visits per year with approximately 23-25% patients who are unable to pay for treatment (either uninsured or indigent.) That means some 6,000 patients at this one Collin County hospital compared to the 108 referred by Parkland. This particular hospital's charity budget is approximately 3.5% of their total budget. I am told that most non-profit hospitals budget approximately 4% for charity care.

Collin County also has several other programs to treat our indigent citizens. Collin County funds and continues to see increased use of the PrimaCare Program which currently enhances the Indigent Program. This program encourages our indigent citizens to seek primary care at one of several privately-operated clinic locations instead of going to an emergency room.

We also continue service agreements with several non-profit organizations that also provide treatment to indigent citizens.

The bottom line is that Collin County is capable and willing to treat our own citizens.

If an effort is made during the legislative session to put Collin County into a hospital district, make no mistake about it - it will be only to extort tax monies from Collin County - it will not be to treat Collin County citizens. Collin County takes care of its own.

I encourage you, and the entire legislature, to follow the wisdom of Frederic Bastiat in his important work, The Law. As he wrote, "try liberty," try liberty for Collin County to provide for our citizens.

Thank you for hearing my testimony.

End quote.

Sincerely,
Keith

Fellow Citizens,

1. The second and last public hearing on next year's county budget is tomorrow, Tuesday, September 2, at 7 PM in the new county courthouse at US 75 and Bloomdale. You are encouraged to attend and make comments if you choose. The Commissioners Court will formally pass the budget on September 9.

2. Your county government is becoming more open and transparent.

a. Webcasting of the Commissioner Court has been available on the county web site since early this year at http://collin.granicus.com/ViewPublisher.php?view_id=2
The response to webcasting has been very positive. One of the unexpected benefits is that since anyone can now attend the meetings virtually, it is much harder to misrepresent court discussions.

b. Actual county expenditures are now also on-line at http://public1.co.collin.tx.us/transparency/default.aspx Other important data is also available at the same site. I hope the presentation will mature over time, but the data is available to you now, in addition to an electronic form to request additional back-up information.

I believe that open and honest government is foundational to an informed electorate. I ask you to take advantage of the information provided in order to get to know your county government better.

3. Sarah Palin is an excellent choice for Vice President!

As the chairman of the Collin County Victory 2008 campaign, I am absolutely energized and motivated by John McCain's choice of Governor Sarah Palin as his Vice Presidential running mate!

This is a ticket that we can fully support against the solidly socialist ticket of the first- and third-most liberal US senators that has been fielded by the opposition. You may have seen the tremendous fund-raising surge that her selection has already generated.

NOW is the time for us to recommit ourselves to electing candidates who represent our values of personal freedom and responsibility, private property, free markets, low taxes and limited government. Collin County is a dynamic and secure place to live, work, and raise your family - let's keep it that way by exercising our most fundamental right in November - the vote. Your vote will make a difference from the county courthouse to the White House!

Election Day is only 65 days!

Sincerely,
Keith