By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
The Wood County Committee on Aging is serving more Baby Boomers, cooking up more meals, and paying a mortgage instead of the $1 annual rent on its old building.
All that adds up to the agency asking voters to renew its current levy, plus add a bit more. The single ballot issue will include the renewal of the current 0.7 mills, and a new 0.3 mills.
The WCCOA operates eight senior centers across Wood County providing essential services to older adults. Each center caters to the seniors of that region. For example, the seniors in the Walbridge area are hooked on Wei bowling. Perrysburg seniors are partial to poker.
“Every one does what their constituency wants,” said Denise Niese, executive director of the Wood County Committee on Aging. “The buildings belong to the seniors and that is who is driving the ship.”
Wood County residents over 60 years old now number more than 30,000. That means more seniors are looking for more services.
“We’re getting the tail end of the Baby Boomers,” Niese said. “We’re programming for three generations – people in their 50s, 70s and 90s.”
There are fitness classes with yoga, tai chi, and balance skills – plus virtual classes for those hesitant to join group activities. There are art classes, matinee movies, knitting groups, programs on American military history, classes on avoiding scams, Family Feud games, and “breakfast for the brain” gatherings.
A request was just put in for jigsaw puzzle exchanges for seniors still reluctant to be in public during COVID.
There are caregiver support groups, and programs on dealing with grief. “Grief comes in all shapes and sizes,” Niese pointed out.
And of course there are the meals – many served up at the facilities for seniors who want to dine with others, and the majority delivered to seniors’ homes across the county.
During COVID, the number of meals delivered to homes jumped from 690 to 950 a day. In 2020, the agency delivered 204,508 meals to homebound seniors throughout the coronavirus pandemic. Those deliveries also served as a daily safety check for the individuals enrolled.
Once COVID restrictions were lifted by the state, congregate meals are again being served up at all eight of the senior centers. In 2019, the WCCOA served 71,089 meals at the centers.
Then there’s the new senior center in Bowling Green, which replaced the aging facility in the century-old post office. The city of Bowling Green, which had been renting out the old building to the senior center for $1 a year, has plans to build a new city administration building on the North Main Street property.
So the Wood County Committee on Aging now has a mortgage to pay off on its new center at 140 S. Grove St.
Additionally, the agency offers round-trip non-emergency medical escorts, loans of durable medical equipment, social services support from WCCOA social workers and registered nurse, wellness and educational programming, and opportunities for socialization.
Adult day care services are expected to start up next year at the senior center in Bowling Green.
This levy renewal with additional millage will ensure vital services that Wood County’s older adults have come to expect will be delivered for years to come, Niese said.
During 2020, the senior services levy supported 63% of WCCOA’s operating budget.
“The levy is the reason why we can operate,” Niese said.
Wood County Committee on Aging Board President Eric Myers explained the additional millage is needed to keep up with increasing costs of providing services. The agency is seeing a spike in raw food costs – with the bill increasing by $150,000 so far this year and expected to hit an annual cost of $675,000.
“This is our highest line item, other than personnel,” Niese said.
The staff of 42 people covers an area of 617 square miles with home-delivered meals and medical escorts.
“We are providing much needed services for very reasonable costs for the citizens of Wood County,” Niese said.
Such services are not available in many counties, she added.
“If people talk to seniors in surrounding counties, I think they will find Wood County is unique,” she said. There are more services, more programming, and no red tape. “Our senior centers are for everyone.”
Myers said he frequently hears seniors praise the local services.
“They overwhelmingly talk about our programs being better. They all love this facility,” he said of the new site in Bowling Green.
This is the first request by the Wood County Committee on Aging for an increase in millage since November 2002, when the present 0.7 mill levy was initially passed by voters. Under Ohio law, property taxes are reduced so that the real property tax of the average homeowner for a voted millage will not be increased as a result of reappraisals or updates. Due to this, the current 0.7 mill levy now collects at 0.57 mills. The requested renewal of the levy, with an additional 0.3 mills, will collect at an effective rate of 0.87 mills.
The current levy collects $17.21 annually from the owner of a $100,000 home. The new proposed millage will increase that property owner’s annual taxes by $10.50.
The current levy generates about $2.6 million a year for senior services. The requested renewal, with the addition of 0.3 mills, would generate $3.36 million annually.
Property owners receive non-business credits and owner-occupied credits on existing levies passed by the voters before 2013. If a levy is replaced, those credits are eliminated. If a levy is renewed, even with the addition of new millage, the credits remain intact. So the renewal with additional millage retains those credits for property owners, and maximizes the levy’s yield.
“By doing it this way, we are protecting our own clients,” Myers said.
Senior service levies in Wood County have a history of strong voter support. In 2011, the renewal passed with 70% of the vote, and in 2016 it garnered close to 76% support.
Niese said voters are never taken for granted.
“Anytime you’re on the ballot,” it’s natural to worry, she said. “We just hope they understand the impact of the vote.”
Niese explained that the Wood County Committee on Aging must look beyond today.
“Our baby boomer generation are the ones that are accessing our services now,” she said. “We have to plan for the future. Many of us won’t be here in 15 to 20 years, but we have to plan for those who come after us.”
“People are living longer,” Niese said. And many of them want to remain at home.
That means the WCCOA needs more funding to provide services that help local seniors stay in their homes.
Though many seniors head south for the winter, those “snowbirds” come back to Wood County for much of the year, Niese said.
“This is where their support system is,” she said.
