Sunnycrest Budget Details Shared Before Transfer

Sunnycrest Manor's fiscal year 2027 budget outlines projected revenue, costs, and a new hospital board levy ahead of its January 2027 operational handoff.

Updated on Nov. 3, 2026 in Nursing Jobs

Flat vector-style editorial illustration of stacked coin piles beside a brass balance scale on a limestone base, with a distant bluff, evoking public budget restructuring. — Sunnycrest Manor's fiscal year 2027 budget, presented by Finance Director Emily Gosche, shows a new hospital board levy ahead of its January 1, 2027 transfer to Dubuque County Hospital trustees. AI Illustration. Upload story photo >

Live Poll

Do you trust local government to manage public care facilities without raising your taxes?

Sunnycrest Finance Director Emily Gosche presented the facility's updated budget to the Dubuque County Board of Supervisors on Monday. Operations are scheduled to transfer to the Dubuque County Hospital Board of Trustees on January 1, 2027.

Why it matters

The shift ends the county's operating lease and moves funding responsibility to a hospital board levy, which the trustees raised to roughly 71 cents per $1,000 of taxable property value in April. Residents and employees in Dubuque County will see how the facility's finances are restructured.

Sunnycrest projects over $14.6 million in fiscal year 2027 revenue, mainly from Medicaid, against about $17.3 million in operating costs. The hospital board's levy of roughly 71 cents per $1,000 of taxable property value is expected to cover the roughly $2.6 million difference.

The players

Sunnycrest Manor

Sunnycrest Manor is a county-owned long-term care facility in Dubuque County whose operations are moving under the hospital board's oversight.

Dubuque County Board of Supervisors

The Dubuque County Board of Supervisors is the elected governing body that sets county policy, levies, and leases, and voted to end Sunnycrest's operating lease.

Dubuque County Hospital Board of Trustees

The Dubuque County Hospital Board of Trustees is the body that will assume oversight of Sunnycrest operations and set the levy that funds the facility.

The details

The Dubuque County Board of Supervisors voted in February to end the county's operating lease with Sunnycrest and to push the original July 1 transfer date back to January 1, 2027, because the facility needed more time for the transition. The budget keeps the county levy at 42 cents per $1,000 of taxable property value, split between Sunnycrest and the 911 Emergency Communications Center, while the county levy is expected to be fully removed from Sunnycrest's budget next fiscal year.

February: Supervisors voted to end the operating lease and delay the transfer date.
April: Hospital trustees voted to raise the levy to about 71 cents per $1,000.
July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2027: Fiscal year 2027 budget period.
January 1, 2027: Scheduled transfer of Sunnycrest operations to the hospital board.

Market Landscape

Sunnycrest's transfer follows a pattern of Iowa counties shifting county-owned long-term care facilities under hospital boards with dedicated levies. The move aims to stabilize a facility whose revenue depends heavily on Medicaid reimbursement.

Dubuque County residents will see the facility's funding shift from a county levy to a hospital board levy that rose to about 71 cents per $1,000 of taxable property value. Job seekers may find 19 full-time and 21 part-time openings as the facility prepares for the transfer.

The takeaway

The transfer shows how counties can shift long-term care funding to hospital boards while keeping the facility operating. Residents should watch the trustees' levy, which is expected to cover the revenue gap as the facility builds a fund balance.

What happens next

Sunnycrest's operations are scheduled to transfer to the hospital board on January 1, 2027, and the facility is recruiting for 19 full-time and 21 part-time open positions.