Published: November 02, 2009 11:25 pm      

Laurel Crest assessed

EBENSBURG — Grane Healthcare will be paying more than $300,000 in local taxes next year after buying Laurel Crest, Cambria County’s nursing home.

That’s the total under the new $3.547 million assessed value placed on the nursing home Monday by the county board of assessment appeals.

The assessed value, under a common level ratio formula set by the state, converts to a market value for the county’s nursing home of $10.75 million, Chief Assessor Tamra Forgan said.

Grane is buying the nursing home from the county for $14.25 million, with the ownership to change hands at 12:01 a.m. Jan. 1. The property, which has been tax exempt, will go into taxation at that time.

Cambria officials had suggested to the assessment appeals board that an $11.7 million market value would be fair because the sale price included both the state license and the equipment/furnishings in it.

While there is no dollar value associated with the state license, the county said it’s a major factor in the sales price since no new ones are being issued by the state.

Grane, which had suggested an $8.8 million market value, will not appeal the decision, spokesman Mark Fox said.

Instead, he said, “We’re streaming toward the transition.

“There’s been a lot to go through,” Fox said. “All the people at Laurel Crest and the courthouse have been so cooperative.”

Grane is not yet ready to make any announcement about who will be the administrator of the facility. Deborah Nesbella has been the administrator since being hired by the county in December 2007.

President Commissioner P.J. Stevens said that the new value “is very fair to both sides. It will add $317,000 in new revenues to the local taxing districts, which will certainly be a value.”

Meanwhile, administrators at Laurel Crest are working with both the residents’ council and residents’ families, preparing for a smooth transition to the new ownership.

Grane has provided Laurel Crest employees with applications to apply for new jobs, but the company is likely to keep all the workers, Stevens said.

He explained that staffing levels at Laurel Crest had been reduced in the past two years to match lower census levels, so the number of employees is not out of line.

County officials also are working with Harrisburg attorney Paula Sanders on preparing notices to the state Department of Health and the state Attorney General’s Office for regulatory approvals. In addition, Sanders is preparing the petition that will go to the county orphan’s court for approval of the decision to sell the facility.

The commissioners have said that through the sale, the nursing home – which has been losing millions of dollars in recent years – will remain a resource for county residents, and jobs there will be preserved.