Voters Reject Tax To Fund Trauma Center in Morongo Basin
Voters in the Morongo Basin have rejected a ballot measure that would have levied a $24 annual tax on property owners to fund what would have been the area's first trauma center at Hi-Desert Medical Center in Joshua Tree, the Riverside Press-Enterprise reports.
About 55% of voters in the mail ballot election rejected Measure N, which needed a two-thirds majority to win approval. Official election results are expected by Oct. 25.
The closest trauma center is 90 miles away at Desert Regional Medical Center in Palm Springs, the Press-Enterprise reports (Osterwalder, Riverside Press-Enterprise, 9/29).