The Trumbull County Senior Services Levy was initially approved by voters in 2005, and has been re-approved in five-year increments since then. The levy brings in $2.4 million each year.
However, for the latest cycle, county officials decided to ask for a replacement of the 0.75-mill levy so the proceeds would be based on current property valuations. This would raise an additional $1.2 million a year, said senior service Administrator Diane Siskowic-Jurkovic.
“We’re not keeping up with the demand, the requests for services,” she said.
The levy pays for adult day care; chore services such as lawn mowing and snow removal; home-delivered meals; personal care and homemaker services, such as personal hygiene assistance and household tasks; protective services to prevent abuse, neglect and exploitation of the elderly; medical and non-medical transportation; and senior centers, where seniors can participate in activities, socialize and get a meal.
The homemaker program alone has a waiting list of 200 people. New people are added for services when someone receiving services dies or enters a nursing home, Siskowic-Jurkovic said.
“Costs of labor has gone up for all these agencies that are providing this service,” she said. “The home-delivered meal cost has risen. With the costs going up, we have to serve less people.”
The extra $1.2 million, if approved, will not wipe out waiting lists, but officials said asking for more would be “too much,” Siskowic-Jurkovic said.
The agency, which is overseen by an 11-member board, has changed its regulations to try to serve more people by limiting the homemaker service to three hours a week per client and setting a cap on how much senior centers can receive each year, she said. It also has obtained grants that have lowered the transportation service cost to the county from $60 an hour to $25, she said.
“We get a lot of requests for Brookfield transportation, to go over to Sharon, rather than to come into Warren,” she said. “We did expand the ability that someone could go to the Sharon area using our transportation, just the same as someone traveling in the county.”
To apply for senior levy transportation services, contact the agency at 330-675-7846. To be eligible, applicants must be Trumbull County residents and at least 60 years old or disabled.
The demand for senior services is expected to rise because younger people are leaving the area, reducing the amount of time they can spend helping their parents; Baby Boomers are retiring; and the senior population is expected to increase until at least 2030, Siskowic-Jurkovic said.
“We’re trying to keep them in their own homes because, if you look at the cost of going into a nursing home, it’s $9,000 a month,” she said.
Information on the services the senior levy provides can be found at www.co.trumbull.oh.us/senior-levy
