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County hears plea for funds to shore up senior transport, staff pay at Senior Resource Center
Summary
At the July 9 Douglas County budget hearing, the Senior Resource Center requested seed funding to replace vans, additional FTEs for drivers and completion of pay compression adjustments after its merger into county government — commissioners asked about volunteer drivers, grant timing and donor roles.
Douglas County commissioners on July 9 heard a detailed supplemental request from the Senior Resource Center (SRC) to address ongoing personnel pay compression, increase FTE allocation for drivers and seed a replacement vehicle fund for the program’s passenger vans.
"When you have a driver who suddenly doesn't show up for any reason, that impacts the five to 10 people who needed a ride that day significantly," Megan Poindexter, department manager for the Senior Resource Center, said, explaining why the program has moved toward paid drivers rather than relying on volunteers. "Volunteers are amazing and wonderful...but you can choose whether or not you’re going to show up." Poindexter said volunteers remain in Eudora and Baldwin but recruiting in Baldwin has been difficult and that the Lawrence team has always been staffed.
Jill Dudley, who introduced the SRC requests, told commissioners the county set aside $250,000 in the 2026 budget to offset transition expenses when SRC became a county department, but personnel costs remain the largest unabsorbed expense. Poindexter described the $250,000 as an early estimate tied to a McGrath pay study and said bringing SRC staff into county payroll at the lower end of the new scale left remaining compression gaps that affect staff morale and retention.
The supplemental packet asks for an increase in FTE allocation to ensure consistent drivers for the "senior wheels" transport program and seed funding so the county can replace vans promptly when grants are delayed or a vehicle is totaled. Poindexter said a recent van purchase cost about $67,000 and that KDOT grants — while helpful — are administratively burdensome and irregular in timing.
Commissioners pressed whether Friends of the Senior Resource Center donations could cover the requests. Poindexter said the Friends group is not designed to pay wages or handle payroll and is best used for programming; she said the supplemental seed money would preserve reserves for multiple years and serve as a cushion for off-cycle replacements or required matching funds for grant awards.
The discussion left open budget decisions: commissioners asked staff to provide additional detail on the compression amounts remaining and the costs of adding drivers, and they urged continued coordination between donor fundraising and county budgeting. No formal vote was taken during this session.
The SRC presentation was part of a broader morning on targeted and vulnerable populations; commissioners recessed at the end of the group’s item and continued the hearing with additional partners.
