Supervisors reaffirmed their commitment to county seniorcitizens Monday even though the cost of providing certain servicesmore than doubled.

Wirt Peterson, of Southwest Community Development and Planning(SWCDP), informed the board during Monday’s meeting that theorganization must have $43,256 requested earlier this year tocontinue to offer the same level of services to senior citizensthey had come to expect in the past five years.

SWCDP, which oversees programs for senior citizens in 10counties, provides a host to assist elderly residents, such asdelivering a daily meal to those unable to get out of the home,providing transportation to hospitals and other necessaryfacilities, and providing legal assistance.

“It’s a critical need in your community and we’re asking you tohelp us,” Peterson said.

Through the SWCDP programs, Peterson said, senior citizens areable to remain independent longer.

District One Supervisor the Rev. Jerry Wilson supported therequest from the beginning.

“I think it’s a good program that keeps them healthy and alivelonger,” he said.

The increase, Peterson said, was the result of a balancingeffort undertaken by the agency.

Lincoln County has paid $21,000 annually to participate in theprogram for the past five years, but that amount was not tied tothe number of residents benefiting from the service.

The program’s funding was spread equally among the 10 countiesparticipating. The balancing effort attempted to align the cost ofthe program with the amount of benefits received, Petersonsaid.

“It did make quite a difference in some counties,” he said.”Some counties were paying quite a bit more than they shouldhave.”

Chancery Clerk Tillmon Bishop said he was not sure what thecounty could do because the budget process for 2005 was completedin October and supervisors had only budgeted $21,000.

Peterson pointed out he had made the initial increase requestprior to the budget planning process.

“We’re not asking for more, we’re just asking for more than yougave us,” he said. “We have asked for exactly the amount we need tomatch federal and state monies. Not a penny more.”

The majority of the program’s funding comes from federal andstate grants, which are secured through local match money, hesaid.

Lincoln County alone benefited from approximately $400,000 inservices through the program in 2004, Peterson said. He warnedthose services would likely be cut in 2005 to match the amount offunding secured by the local match money in order for theorganization to meet its other obligations.

“I don’t think we need to cut our services to our seniorcitizens,” said District Four Supervisor Doug Moak.

The board agreed and approved the increased appropriation tocontinue each year.