East Ohio Regional Hospital appears to be working to maintain its operation in Martins Ferry despite facing a number of challenges. Among those is a $1.2 million property tax bill that remained unpaid as of Feb. 27. The bill covers the past two tax years.

Belmont County Treasurer Katherine Kelich told our reporter that East Ohio Regional Hospital Chief Operating Officer Julie Ross is working with her office to formulate a plan to tackle the “very large delinquency.” She said the delay in payment resulted in part from the hospital’s decision to appeal the county’s assessed value of the property, with parent company Access Martins Ferry LLC first challenging the valuation, then filing a complaint with the Board of Revision and finally taking the challenge to the Board of Tax appeals. Kelich said the process concluded in late 2024.

“Some of that is not a deliberate non-payment, some of that was just waiting for a decision from that court and that didn’t actually happen until fall of last year,” Kelich said, adding that the last payment the hospital made on its property tax came in May 2023.

Real estate tax bills are a real concern in Belmont County this year, after a new round of property assessments ordered by the state increased the taxable values of many properties. Residents and businesses that want to contest those assessed values have until March 31 to do so.

But do you know what those who are contesting also were required to do, no matter the outcome of their hearing? Pay the first half of their property tax bills.

It’s good that Kelich is talking with East Ohio Regional Hospital leaders to secure as much of its past due tax payment as possible, but she should ensure that she does so in a manner that is fair to every property owner in the county. Creation of a payment plan might be a reasonable solution, but reducing or eliminating a portion of the hospital’s past-due tax burden should be out of the question.

Too many Belmont County residents right now are feeling the financial pain of increased property tax bills and being forced to make tough financial decisions so they can keep a balanced family budget; giving a break to the hospital in any fashion would be the equivalent of telling those taxpayers they simply don’t matter as much.