Councils of governments highlight transportation role and say Meals on Wheels faces funding shortfalls

Representatives of South Carolina’s councils of governments told the Senate Constitutional Subcommittee that COGs perform transportation planning, economic-development and aging services, and that at least one region currently has over 800 people on its waiting list for home-delivered meals.

COG presenters briefed the subcommittee on their statewide roles and requested sustained funding, noting an appropriation of $1,500,000 that is divided by formula among the 10 councils of governments. Presenters described COG work in economic development (including leveraging Economic Development Administration funds), transportation planning and grant administration for water and sewer projects through the Rural Infrastructure Authority.

On transportation, presenters explained how rural planning organizations and metropolitan planning organizations feed local project lists into the state program. Sarah Smith, representing the Grand Strand Area Transportation Study region, told senators that once a project is included in a long-range plan and moved into the Transportation Improvement Program, it becomes eligible for programming by the South Carolina Department of Transportation and is then carried forward into design and implementation by SCDOT.

Presenters and senators discussed coordination problems on some local projects: senators described information gaps between delegations, local COGs and SCDOT about project status for items such as a traffic circle on Highway 11. COG representatives said regions receive regional mobility or “guide share” allocations that are placed on local project lists, ranked under DOT criteria, and then forwarded to state programming for construction funds. Presenters warned that an influx of federal and state transportation money has strained DOT staffing and contracting capacity, causing delays in some projects.

On aging services, COG representatives said local councils on aging contract to procure and deliver home-delivered meals; the COGs pay contractors and then seek reimbursement from the State Office on Aging. Presenters said one region has more than 800 people on a waiting list for home-delivered meals and that inflation and increased demand have reduced how many seniors can be served with existing funding. The presenters described a recent notice of funding availability (NOFA) reported to regions in March but said there is no written federal guidance on how long that funding must last; as a result, some COGs are uncertain whether funds will stretch through the fiscal year.

Presenters also raised concerns about program administration: they said aging funding is made up of many separate funding streams (one presenter said there are about 63 different pots of funding), which complicates budgeting and reimbursement. They described challenges with state reporting systems and a transition between tracking systems that has caused extra reporting burdens and reimbursement delays.

COG leaders asked the subcommittee to preserve the $1.5 million appropriation distributed among the 10 councils. Committee members said subcommittee staff will follow up on specific local project status and on the Meals on Wheels funding timeline with state aging staff.

No formal votes were taken on the presentation; senators said follow-up oversight may occur as part of the panel’s work on Department of Aging matters.