image_173Voters asked to approve funding for “Meals on Wheels” and other basic senior services –

By Patricia Beech –

Two of Adams County’s senior citizen service agencies will ask voters to approve a five-year 0.5 mill renewal levy and a five-year 0.2 mill levy increase in November.
The five-year 0.5 mill levy provides services to help seniors remain in their homes according to Teresa Carr of the Adams County Senior Citizens office.
“The homecare and transportation services we provide enable our senior citizens to stay in their homes so they don’t have to go to a nursing home or become a burden on someone’s family members,” said Carr. “It allows them to stay independent, and that feeling of independence in their own homes encourages them to remain independent. We can help with the cooking and cleaning or whatever needs doing – that is all part of the program.”
The program currently serves 420 seniors throughout the county and is available to all eligible residents of the county.
Voters have consistently shown support for the levy, approving it every time it has appeared on the ballot. The levy is a flat renewal and will not increase taxes.
The 0.2 mill, five year levy will provide funding for ABCAP’s Meals on Wheels program. The service provides meals to an average of 150 senior citizens across Adams County.
“That increase is important because right now Meals on Wheels is only delivering three times a week with two extra meals for the weekend,” said Carr. “Sometime the person delivering the meals is the only person some seniors see all day, so they would like to increase it to four days a week.”
Nancy Darby, Deputy Director of ABCAP, further emphasizes the importance of the program to senior safety. “It’s more than a meal,” says Darby. “Just this year we’ve had 57 seniors who were unable to answer the door because they had either fallen or were too ill to get up – the work we do is so important to their quality of life.”
The Senior Services levy is a county-wide levy requiring a majority affirmative vote for passage.
The levy’s ballot language reads as follows:
A renewal of five-tenths (0.5) mill and an increase of two-tenths (0.2) mill to constitute a tax for the benefit of Adams County for the purpose of providing and maintaining senior citizen services at a rate  not exceeding seven-tenths (0.7) mill for each one dollar of valuation, which amounts to seven cents ($0.07) for each one hundred dollars valuation, for five (5) years, commencing in 2016, first due in calendar year 2017.