White Considering Senior Center Funding Change

White County Commissioners are considering a proposal that would change how the county funds the White County Senior Center.

County Executive Denny Wayne Robinson said the county currently gives a contribution of one tax penny which is worth over $54,000. Robinson said the county is looking to detach the contribution from the tax revenue so the county and the Senior Center will have a clear expectation of how much funding will be contributed each year.

“Well what we are doing is instead of basing it on that penny value we are going to guarantee them that they get the same amount of money that they have been getting so that way it doesn’t fluctuate,” Robinson said. “So we are just wanting to protect the funding of the Senior Center.”

Robinson said projections are showing that the penny value is going from a sum of $54,000 to $97,000 at the next evaluation. Robinson said that the commission has a proposal to contribute $55,000 for the upcoming fiscal year as a $97,000 contribution would be unnecessary.

“It’s looking like projections this year yes it would be a little excessive,” Robinson said. “You know we are charged with being good stewards of the money and that would be a little excessive we do feel.”

Robinson said commissioners will vote at the next commission meeting and if approved it would not take effect until July 1st of 2025. Robinson said the senior center has recently been performing well and the county will continue to support the senior center.

“Our senior center is doing a great job and has been growing lately,” Robinson said. “We got a new director and it just kind of brought some new life into it and we don’t want that to be hampered or dulled.”