Special town meeting to decide whether to restore Halifax Council on Aging wages and drivers funding

Darlene, the Council on Aging director, told the board the COA entered July with key wage and driver line items reduced to zero, leaving no official funding to pay van drivers or cover portions of staff salaries. "Now July 1 comes, we have $0," she said, describing a gap created when budget line items were removed even though some services are reimbursed by the regional GATRA program.

The town official said a citizen petition filed for the special town meeting would restore two lines on the warrant: $36,165 to line 113 (the director's salary) to return that line to a prior requested amount of $85,001.65, and $50,000 to line 114 (clerical/wages) to fund a part-time admin and van drivers. "He was looking for a $36,165 increase to the 113, which is Darlene's salary line ... And then there was also an addition of $50,000 to fund the wage line for clerical, which also includes van drivers," the official said, and added those amounts would come from captured GATRA funds rather than free cash.

Board members pressed for clarity on how the GATRA reimbursements are tracked and whether prior reimbursements had been moved into the COA wage lines. Darlene said some funds were reimbursed but line-item transfers and accounting steps were not completed, which produced the immediate cash shortfall and forced the COA to delay or pause hiring van drivers and some support staff. "Why are we torturing our seniors?" she asked, describing canceled appointments and programming strain.

The town official told the board there is roughly $140,000 sitting in a captured GATRA account that could be applied to COA needs and that town counsel and the finance committee were reviewing the paperwork and procedure. The official said it is likely the petitioned items will be approved at the special town meeting: "There's about a $140,000 left in that account ... We can easily move the 86,165 over to fund those two lines," they said.

The petition will be decided at the special town meeting scheduled for Wednesday, July 29 at 6:30 p.m. at Halifax Elementary School. If voters approve the petition, the town official said the administration would transfer funds and the COA director's salary would likely be made retroactive to July 1. Until that vote, the COA must manage with immediate cash constraints and limited ability to post staff positions.

The board also discussed short-term operational fixes, including using revolving account balances for urgent operating costs where allowed, improving communication about reimbursements, and the need for deeper accounting capacity to prevent similar problems in the future.