Council on Aging faces cuts, takes on transportation duties as city shifts to formula grant funding

The Council on Aging told the finance and property committee it will absorb roughly $90,000 in reductions, eliminate one staff position and assume transportation duties previously provided by an external service (the transcript refers to the prior provider variously as 'Qaeda' and 'Keita'). Gomez (speaking for the council on aging) said the change is expected to save the city more than $100,000 annually but will change how rides and eligibility are handled.

Gomez described a range of services the senior center provides — transportation, farm‑stand produce distribution, meal programs, technology access and volunteer support — and said average daily attendance has risen from about 99 seniors per day to roughly 139 over four years. He said the department will run a shuttle on Mondays and Thursdays and biweekly supermarket trips, operating a fleet of five buses and a minivan with current staffing of two full‑time drivers, a transportation coordinator who will drive more, and one part‑time driver.

Councilors pressed for operational detail: how eligibility and routing will work, how to replace call‑up trip models and how data will be collected to evaluate service gaps. Gomez said the shuttle will be first‑come, first‑serve for supermarket trips and that detailed routes will be informed by rider data and announced by the planning department and the council on aging (the transcript notes an August newsletter timing for a public announcement). He said the formula grant—a state grant allocated by a statutory formula keyed to senior population—has built modest surpluses in recent years and administration has proposed shifting lines into that fund to absorb vehicle, heating and electric costs.

City administration explained that the FY27 proposal keeps the same overall bottom line and relies on intra‑departmental adjustments and formula grant surplus (roughly $70,000 referenced in the hearing) to avoid cutting the senior center’s FTE this year. Councilors asked that the city build better data collection into the new model—tracking trips, destinations and user demographics—to evaluate impacts and guide future funding decisions.

The committee did not take a final vote on these allocations during this meeting; staff will return with routing and implementation details and the planning department will announce route information to the public.