A Senior Citizen Nursing Home District tax increase of just over 218% will be found on the April 2 ballot. The 11-cent property tax was passed in 1969 and has never increased. The tax is necessary, according to Shirkey Nursing Home and Rehabilitation Administrator Chris Brown, who is in favor of tax increase to .35 cents. However, he understands the current financial burden of county residents. “We’re financially struggling, as most nursing homes are in the United States. Over 700 closed and in the last five years, 22 in Missouri closed as of last week. These numbers do not count the nursing homes that have been taken over by private corporations if you’re a nonprofit, standalone facility like we are,” said Brown. With the same rate being collected for nearly 55 years, the administrator said the monies currently received from the tax can only cover one month’s payroll. The library tax of .1928 cents — .0828 cents more than the current nursing home tax — is almost 45% less than…