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Wayne County OKs budget adjustment to cover senior meals program; commissioners press state for more funding
Summary
The committee approved a budget adjustment that included additional funding for Wayne County Senior Services to prevent a Meals on Wheels wait list. Commissioners pressed staff about volunteer recruitment, program scope and state funding shortfalls.
Wayne County commissioners approved a budget adjustment that includes funds to cover a shortfall in the county’s senior meals program, officials said.
The vote came after William Chuck Jackson, Department Director of Wayne County Senior Services, told the Committee on Ways and Means that the county provided more than 864,000 meals last fiscal year and that the additional funding in the adjustment is “primarily to prevent a wait list.” Jackson said federal and state funding have not kept pace with rising demand.
Jackson said Wayne County Meals on Wheels served both home-delivered and congregate meals and provides a halal meal option. He said the halal option is delivered in Dearborn and is currently about 25 meals per week. Jackson also described ongoing volunteer shortages: the program has about 822 registered volunteers, roughly 500 active on any given day, and a goal of 700 active volunteers.
Commissioners used the discussion to press for follow-up. Commissioner Anderson asked whether the department had stepped up outreach to the state legislature; Jackson said escalating advocacy with state officials is a priority and that Meals on Wheels America is launching a national campaign called "In the Wait" to highlight inadequate funding. Commissioner Baker McCormick and others urged wider local recruitment, including outreach to retiree groups and the UAW regional director, and asked staff to share recruitment materials with commissioners.
Jackson said the county has supplemented the program for several years to avoid a wait list and that the shortfall in 2024 was larger than previous supplements. He attributed part of the shortfall to higher food costs — about $1.39 more per meal since 2019 — and said there was a cut of roughly $45 million to nutrition funding from a health and human services source in 2024 that affected the program.
Commissioners asked staff to prepare a resolution asking the governor and legislature to increase support for senior nutrition services; Jackson and commissioners said they would draft that resolution "in short order." The budget adjustment that funds the program was approved as part of the committee's motion to approve the full report of budget adjustments.
The committee did not set a timetable for the proposed resolution to the state.
