PHOTO: Senior Center volunteers enjoy an ‘appreciation dinner’ in August 2023.
Last week at a work session, the Archuleta Board of County Commissioners heard from representatives of ASI — Archuleta Seniors Incorporated, the non-profit, non-sectarian, non-partisan organization that has, for the past decade, been operating the Pagosa Springs Senior Center located in north wing of the Ross Aragon Community, in downtown Pagosa.
Previous to that time, the Senior Center had been funded and staffed by the County itself.
As ASI Executive Director Rose Chavez reminded the commissioners, Archuleta County is the only county government in southwest Colorado that has tasked a non-governmental agency with running the community’s senior center and related services.
The commissioners seemed willing, last week, to reconsider that arrangement.
Ms. Chavez noted the County’s contributions to supporting the center, as well as the San Juan Basin Area Agency on Aging, the Town of Pagosa Springs, and a range of private funders.
According to the most recent 990 Form filed with the IRS, Archuleta Seniors Inc. received about $386,000 in taxpayer support in 2021, and brought in about $96,000 by providing meals. The organization reported a net loss of about $20,000 in 2021.
Ms. Chavez then requested the BOCC budget $300,000 in support for the upcoming year — an increase from $230,000 in 2023. She stated that the additional funding would allow for increases in pay for staff as well as assisting the Center with increased food costs, and paying rent. The Town of Pagosa Springs waived ASI’s rent at the Community Center this past year, but no decision has been made about the Town’s continued willingness to waive $30,000 in annual rent.
The draft Town budget indicates that the Town will go back to charging full rent in 2024.
Commissioner Ronnie Maez asked about the staffing, and was told that ASI has four full-time employees and six part-time.
Commissioner Maez then raised the possibility of ASI staff becoming County employees once again, and asked County Attorney Todd Weaver if this would be possible; Mr. Weaver didn’t see any obvious obstacles to that change.
Commissioner Medina, who also serves on the ASI Board of Directors, noted that an 18-year employee of the Senior Center recently retired, and did so without a retirement package.
As I recall, Archuleta County abandoned the funding and operations of the Senior Center, to be subsequently assumed by the non-profit ASI, shortly after the County’s near-bankruptcy in 2007-2008, when more than $2 million mysteriously disappeared from the County’s budgeted funds, for reasons that were never fully explained.
The County’s financial bookkeeping has since improved, although their funding priorities sometimes result in headscratching.
Ms. Chavez explained that ASI would like to increase wages for kitchen staff to $16 an hour, up from $14 an hour, to make living in the community more feasible for staff, and added that ASI would also like to create a stipend for the volunteer Meals on Wheels drivers, to help reimburse their gas and vehicle costs.
Commissioner Warren Brown asked if increased County might funding impact the amount of funding ASI can secure from other organizations. ASI Board Secretary Joan Ward stated that grant applications often give weight to community partnerships. Ms. Chavez Chavez agreed that demonstrating community support is relevant to certain grant applications, especially to the state.
Commissioner Maez stated his desire to improve pay and benefits for ASI staff, and suggested that, if the County assumed the full responsibility for funding and overseeing the Senior Center, as was done in the not-so-distant past, then contributions to the Senior Center from other sources, could be reallocated to assist seniors in other ways.
Commissioner Medina:
“I would not disagree. I would definitely think this would be a huge impact for the employees of the Senior Center and it would be a huge boost for the Archuleta Seniors. And we would just be able to do more for the community.”
ASI Board Secretary Ward expressed her appreciation for the BOCC’s willingness to “consider these options”. She said she feels the County does not receive enough recognition for supporting the Center.
If I am understanding Proposition HH correctly — the ‘reduced property tax rate’ proposal that will appear your Colorado mail ballot in a few days — local governments like counties and fire districts might end up getting considerably less funding via property taxes over the next decade, than they would see if HH fails at the polls…
…while school districts might see considerably increased funding, if HH succeeds.
The actual dollar amounts will depend on the overall economy.
There are several groups in Colorado that benefit from government subsidies.
Two rather large groups, of very similar size:
1. Seniors (65 and older) who typically benefit from Social Security and Medicare, and other programs. We have about 900,000 seniors (age 65 and older) in Colorado. Social Security and Medicare are federal payroll-deduction systems; certain other programs are federally- or state-funded, or funded by charitable organizations.
2. Public school students, who typically benefit from free education, including, in many case, free lunches and breakfasts. We had about 880,000 students enrolled last year. Their educations are funded primarily by Colorado taxes, with minor contributions from the federal government.
Other non-government folks who benefit from government support? People living in poverty. Military contractors. Oil & gas companies. Makers of solar panels. The tourism industry. Pharmaceutical companies. The list goes on.
Back in 2017, the Colorado Health Institute made an attempt to quantify the relative ‘vulnerability’ of Colorado seniors, based on their county of residence. The ‘vulnerability’ calculation was a county average, based on 10 social or personal factors.
Here’s the map that resulted.
This might be of interest to policymakers, such as our County commissioners, because it gives a general overview of how various counties compare.
It says nothing, of course, about any particular senior person, and the struggles he or she might be facing, regarding nutrition, health, transportation, paying bills, mobility, hearing loss, memory loss, loneliness.
Bill Hudson began sharing his opinions in the Pagosa Daily Post in 2004 and can’t seem to break the habit. He claims that, in Pagosa Springs, opinions are like pickup trucks: everybody has one.