Idaho Commission on Aging seeks limited ongoing increases as ARPA funds wind down

On Feb. 24 the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee reviewed the Idaho Commission on Aging’s budget, learning that the agency has used federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) awards for one-time modernization projects and is asking for modest ongoing state funds to cover inflation for local senior services.

Colin McGurkin, a budget and policy analyst with the Legislative Services Office, told the committee the commission implements the federal Older Americans Act and the Idaho Senior Services Act and distributes services through six Local Area Agencies on Aging (AAAs). McGurkin said the commission had a total of about $16.7 million in expenditures in fiscal 2024, with roughly 88% of that spent as trustee and benefit payments to local AAAs — about $10.4 million in federal funds and $4.2 million in general fund support.

The commission has drawn down ARPA funds for a range of one-time projects, McGurkin said, reporting roughly $7.4 million in ARPA-related expenditures from FY2022 through FY2024. He said the agency requested a one-time $1.8 million appropriation in FY2025 to use remaining ARPA balances before the federal deadline of Sept. 30, 2025, and separately requested a one-time federal appropriation of $500,000 to pay final invoices and draw down remaining ARPA funds (about $450,000 to AAAs and $50,000 for limited administrative and operating costs).

Judy Taylor, director of the Idaho Commission on Aging, told the committee the agency has interpreted guidance from the governor’s office to use one-time federal dollars for one-time needs and not to rely on ARPA for ongoing programs. “We have followed that guidance to the T,” Taylor said. She described examples of one-time or short-term ARPA-funded work: enhancements to meal delivery and modernization projects, targeted caregiver education and outreach, COVID-related services, expansions to adult protective services, and a pilot to embed community health workers in local agencies to support unpaid family caregivers of people with dementia.

Taylor described caregivers as a high priority for the commission. “Caregiving is one of our top three issues,” she said, listing adult protective services and nutrition as the other two. She said the commission operates two caregiver programs: a federal Older Americans Act–funded program serving caregivers age 60 and older (and caregivers of people with dementia regardless of caregiver age) that provides respite, support groups and education, and a state-funded high-risk caregiver program established after the JLOC report that uses community health workers for in-home assessments and planning.

Committee members asked for more detail on how ARPA money was used for staff costs and what would happen when that funding expires. Taylor said staff salaries are covered in the commission’s base budget and that one-time ARPA spending had allowed additional services (for example, temporary membership fees for adult protective services staff and added respite hours) that would be reduced once the one-time funds end. She said the commission prioritized maintaining staff salaries and would reduce service hours or other one-time items before cutting personnel.

McGurkin and Taylor detailed a small FY2026 ongoing general fund request: $162,600 to cover inflationary increases, including roughly $155,000 to raise trustee and benefit payments by 3% for AAAs and about $7,600 for a 2% increase in commission operating costs for travel and training. Taylor said the commission also received ongoing general fund additions in earlier years: one FTE and $76,700 for a financial specialist and $805,000 in general funds to support nutrition programs and reduce meal delivery wait lists.

Taylor reported that as of the new fiscal year the commission had deployed prior appropriations to raise meal rates by $0.25 per meal for congregate and home-delivered meals and eliminated the home-delivered meal waiting list that existed earlier. “As of today we have no waiting lists in Idaho,” she said.

The commission also requested a small one-time replacement cycle appropriation recommended by ITS and noted a requested one-time federal appropriation to pay final ARPA invoices before the program deadline. McGurkin said the agency has asserted those ARPA expenditures were for one-time modernization and enhancement projects and would not create ongoing obligations.

The committee did not take votes during this presentation; members asked staff to provide follow-up details by email about Alzheimer’s-specific spending, the mechanics of charging staff time to federal grants, and the breakdown of meal-program funding in the agency’s base budget.

Taylor closed by urging support for the commission’s request, saying the budget “reflects strategic planning” to help older Idahoans remain safely in their communities.

Ending: The committee’s staff will supply supplementary detail on Alzheimer’s-related spending and the commission’s base meal-program funding on request; no formal appropriations were decided in this session’s presentation.