Healthcare district boundary puzzles voters

Some residents in Bear Valley Springs and Stallion Springs who want to vote on Proposition H are not sure they can vote.

The Tehachapi Valley Healthcare District encompasses all of the Tehachapi valleys and adjacent areas to the north and south, dips down into the Central Valley on the west side (at one point crossing Bear Mountain Road, or Hwy. 223) and extends down the east side into California City. Only residents who live within the boundary can vote on Prop H, the passage of which would approve the district's affiliation with Adventist Health and assure completion of the Replacement Tehachapi Critical Access Hospital at no cost to the taxpayer. (Prop H is not a bond measure.)

On the 2014 map above, from the Kern County Elections Division, the blue line shows the boundary on the western portion of the district that includes Bear Valley Springs, Stallion Springs, Cummings Valley and Tucker Road in the city of Tehachapi.The small squares are square-mile sections; the large squares (31 S 31 E, etc.) are six-square-mile townships and ranges.

The district boundary clips off a portion of Stallion Springs at Comanche Point Road, leaving some homes outside the district boundary. It is unclear how many homes in Bear Valley, if any, are outside the boundary.

The original district boundary (Keene to Cache Creek) was drawn up in 1949.

The one sure way to find out if you live within the district is to look at your property tax bill hard copy or on line. Find the box headlined "Your tax distribution." See "Taxing agency" and the amount. Several lines (reflecting district bonds and other taxes) that relate to the healthcare district say "Health" or something similar. If there is no such agency listed, you are outside the Tehachapi Valley Healthcare District and are not eligible to vote on Prop. H.

But the hospital is open to all, even if you are not paying taxes on the construction bonds.

To see a map of the entire district boundary, check this story in

The Loop newspaper online edition,

http://www.TheLoopnewspaper.com.