Editor’s note: This story has been updated with the El Paso Eastside Democrats’ endorsement of the UMC bond.
Voting in favor of the University Medical Center of El Paso’s $397 million projects bond issue on the Nov. 5 election ballot is an easy decision for El Paso real estate developer Will Harvey.
“To me, it’s a no-brainer for our community. I can’t believe we don’t have some of the (medical care) stuff,” most notably a burn center and comprehensive cancer care center that are elements of the bond issue, he said.
The proposed projects, to be paid with property tax-supported bonds, also will have economic development benefits, including adding construction jobs and additional jobs at county-owned UMC, Harvey said.
“I think this is a pretty cost-effective way to do it. It’s like $6 per month, more or less, (property tax increase) for an average home” to pay for the UMC bond issue, he said.
Harvey is treasurer and one of the organizers of the Citizens United for UMC Political Action Committee, a group of mostly business people advocating for passage of the bond issue. He also is the chief executive officer of Riverbend Development, which develops shopping centers and self-storage facilities.
“It’s going to add a little bit of money to your tax bill, but we think you’re going to get back way more than you put in.”
Fiscal conservatives fight bond issue
For political activist Guadalupe Giner, voting against the UMC bond issue, and the county’s separate, $324 million Capital Improvement Bond issue also is an easy decision, but in the opposite direction.
“It doesn’t matter how worthy the project is; what matters is that it’s going to increase taxes and housing rents,” said Giner, who lost a bid for El Paso County Judge in 2022 as an independent candidate.
“When you issue that many millions of dollars (in bonds) all at once, that’s almost like they’re not seeing the reality of El Paso being one of the poorest communities with the highest taxes.”
Giner is an organizer of It’s OK to Vote No on Bonds‑El Paso, a small group of fiscally conservative El Pasoans supported by the Texans for Freedom Political Action Committee, headed by retired Arlington, Texas businessman William Eastland. The PAC helps communities around the state fight bond issues.
Some El Paso group members also have ties to the El Paso County Republican Party, which also opposes the bond issues.
The El Paso Eastside Democrats, with about 220 members, endorsed the UMC bond issue because it will help create a more robust El Paso healthcare system, Emma Acosta, the group’s leader, wrote in a letter to the news media.
More:El Paso hospitals’ nurses get pay increases, work improvements in new labor contracts
Libre Initiative letting voters’ speak
The Libre Initiative, a national advocacy group with an El Paso office that stopped a similarly priced UMC project proposal in 2022, is not opposing the bond issue.
Libre isn’t opposing it “because the people actually have a choice this time, unlike in 2022 when the elected officials (County Commissioners Court) tried to remove the people’s choice” by trying to finance the projects with certificates of obligation, which don’t require voters’ approval, said Enrique Romero, LIbre’s El Paso grassroots engagement director.
“This year it will ultimately come down to the will of the people on whether or not they want to pay for it,” Romero said
Bond cost for property owners averages $72 a year
The UMC bond issue will increase the property tax about $6 a month, or about $72 per year, over 30 years on a home with an average taxable, or tax assessed value, in 2024 of $210,000 set by the El Paso Central Appraisal District, UMC officials said. The UMC Cares website (umccares.org) has a bond tax calculator for property owners to calculate an individual tax increase and information about the bond issue.
Where bond campaigns are focused
The anti-tax group’s low-budget campaign is relying mostly on its Facebook page, handing out fliers and placing signs advocating against the bonds outside polling locations, Giner said.
“We have received and spent less than $500” so far, said Giner, who donated the money.
The Citizens United for UMC PAC had $105,000 in contributions from El Paso business people and businesses as of Oct. 7, its latest campaign finance report shows.
Car dealer Steve Fox’s $50,000 was the largest donation. Fox’s family donated $25 million to Texas Tech University in 2023 to help pay for staffing of the planned El Paso comprehensive cancer treatment center, which will bear the names of Fox and his wife, Nancy.
The PAC hired The Forma Group, an El Paso public affairs firm, to run the campaign, Harvey said. It’s focused on “advocacy messages — digital, print, and social,” including a website (citizensforumc.org), Harvey said. It’s not doing TV commercials. Members of the PAC also conduct meetings at businesses and other organizations to advocate for the bond issue, he said.
UMC officials, by Texas law, can’t advocate for the bond issue, but they can provide information about the proposed projects, which they’ve done at dozens of meetings with various groups, a UMC official said. It’s also done TV commercials and mailed fliers. UMC has spent about $70,000 from its general advertising budget for the informational campaign, a spokesperson said.
UMC officials have said the projects are needed to meet growing patient demand and provide additional services to patients at the 109-year-old, county-owned hospital. A big part of its mission is to treat people who don’t have medical insurance.
Cancer center will be UMC-Texas Tech joint venture
The bond issue includes $30 million to help construct the El Paso cancer center, which will be operated as a partnership between UMC and Texas Tech, said Jon Law, UMC chief strategy officer.
The Texas Legislature allocated $65 million to Texas Tech for the center, which is projected to cost $120 million to $150 million to construct, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso officials reported. The cancer center will be part of Texas Tech’s planned, large Clinical Sciences Building on Tech’s El Paso medical campus next to the UMC campus in South-Central El Paso.
Tech officials will continue to seek additional funding for the center, according to a Texas Tech statement.
Law said it’s anticipated additional funding would be sought from the state Legislature.
If voters approve the bond issue, “we would be able to say to the Legislature that there was a community investment as well as philanthropic investments.”
The Fox family’s $25 million donation and $5 million from the Paso del Norte Health Foundation are to be used to fund cancer center staff, including staff recruitment.
Texas Tech is managing the design. But if the bond is approved, the $30 million would give UMC some ownership in the center, Law said.
Burn unit would let UMC treat more patients
The bond issue includes $24.5 million to build an additional intensive care unit on a portion of the third floor of the eight-floor hospital so UMC can treat serious burn victims instead of sending them out of town.
Eight of the about 20-bed units would be designated for burn patients, Law said. The unit will include specialized equipment and specialized operating rooms for burn victims.
$342 million for off-campus facilities, hospital upgrades
The other components of the bond issue total $342 million:
- $207.6 million for facilities outside the hospital: Central El Paso geriatric clinic, Horizon City clinic with an emergency department, West and East medical clinics’ expansions, convert a Texas Tech campus building into a UMC specialty clinic, and put an outpatient surgery center in West El Paso.
- $134.5 million for projects inside UMC and its campus: Four new surgery rooms, new cardiac catheterization lab, expand observation unit by 25 beds, upgrade imaging and laboratory units, infrastructure rehabilitation, and an additional parking garage.
An unspecified amount of money will be used for land and property acquisitions for new projects.
Sales pitch includes economic development
Part of Citizens United for UMC PAC’s sales pitch is the bond projects will provide an economic boost to El Paso by adding jobs and helping it “become a hub for skilled health care professionals,” according to information on its Support the UMC Bond website.
The bond projects will help create about 500 new jobs at UMC facilities, including the cancer center, according to a UMC estimate derived from UMC staffing experts and its strategy department.
UMC employs about 4,000 people, making it one of El Paso’s larger employers.
The PAC information also states that the bond projects would generate about $166 million for local construction companies and create about 4,400 construction jobs over an unspecified number of years. UMC officials used budgets from past large projects, and consultations with an architectural firm and construction economist to derive the estimates, a UMC spokesperson reported.
Multiple Bond issues stir confusion
Harvey, the pro-bond group leader, said having El Paso County’s $324 million Capital Improvement Bond issue and the city’s proposition on whether the city bonds for a Downtown multipurpose center should be revoked on the same election ballot is causing confusion for some voters.
“It adds more things for people to think about at a time where everyone is thinking about where their dollars are going, and where they’re spending them on, and I get it,” Harvey said. “And that’s why I think this points back (that) this is a good investment.”
“Luckily, we’re the last item on the ballot, so that’s easy to tell people,” Harvey said.
More: El Paso County’s $324M capital projects bonds vie for attention on crowded election ballot
For Giner, leader of the anti-bond group, success will be having all the bonds defeated.
“We want to protect the community of El Paso against higher taxes. That’s why it’s OK to vote no on these bonds,” Giner said.
The last UMC-related bond issue in 2007 was narrowly approved by voters 51% to 49%. The $120 million bond issue was to build what is now El Paso Children’s Hospital, adjacent to UMC, and part of the El Paso County Hospital District.
Vic Kolenc may be reached at 915-546-6421; [email protected]; @vickolenc on Twitter, now known as X.
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