City Council is moving toward imposing the city's business and occupation tax on PeaceHealth St. Joseph Medical Center, a move that would shift $1.2 million in annual revenue from PeaceHealth to the city. While that dramatic move is far from certain, council members did vote 6-1 to draw up an ordinance and to schedule a public hearing to that end, during a Monday, April 21, committee session. Gene Knutson cast the no vote. He said he wanted the council to consider an alternative option at the hearing when it is held. That alternative would be PeaceHealth's proposal to begin paying the current B&O tax on revenue from its outpatient clinics, but not the hospital itself.
