For the last several weeks, Carle Foundation Hospital has been on the forefront of the Urbana City Council meetings as well as a topic of conversation among concerned city taxpayers.

Public schools, parks, fire departments — all of these could see budget cuts due to the tax exemption Carle qualifies for because it provides charity care to its patient base.

While the hospital did provide $32 million toward charity care to about 20,000 people in 2012, only 4,400 of these patients were Urbana residents. In a city of 41,000 people, it doesn’t quite add up that 3 percent — the proportion of Carle’s client base in Urbana — should take on the full financial responsibility for this new exemption. So who should? 

Should it fall upon the Urbana taxpayers to compensate for the $4.6 million the city is expected to lose because of the tax exemption?

State Rep. Naomi Jakobsson, D-103, thinks the solution lies within Carle itself. With the proposed House bill, she hopes to counteract the detrimental effects the tax exemption may have on the city’s budget. The bill states that if a hospital serves 10 percent or fewer of the total number of its patient base, it would not qualify for tax exemption status. 

However, what the city council meetings have not addressed is how much money Carle has made for the city since 1918 when money was first donated to create the hospital. For years, Urbana has benefited from the jobs and health care services Carle provides as well as property taxes that funnel back into the community.

With 35.9 percent of native-born Urbana residents living below the poverty line, many would not be able to afford the health care they received through Carle’s charity care. 

However, if Jakobsson’s bill passes and Carle reassumes paying property taxes, the amount of money the hospital is able to spend on charity care could decrease. Consequently, fewer residents could take advantage of free and discounted health services.

It seems there lies an ultimatum between health care and public services. Should Carle lose its tax exempt status for the sake of improving Urbana’s public schools and parks? Or should less money go toward public services for the sake of affordable health care? There must be a compromise. Instead of blaming and pushing the responsibility onto one another, it seems the city should appreciate the hospital’s services and devotion to the community by helping Carle’s charity care program to continue, while the hospital should pay its fair share of taxes for being located on Urbana property. 

While it may not be fair, and it may not be easy for the next year, Urbana will have to tighten its checkbook and hang on tight for a better compromise.