Will the creation of a special district provide consistent funding for the Buffalo Senior Center?
Every year, the center applies for 9 federal grants and 2 state grants that provide funding for wellness services, educational assistance, along with in-home services, and local transportation with the BATS vans.
Most of those grants require local matching funds of 20% or even up to 50% and in recent years, the center has sought a variety of funding sources from 1% money from Johnson County and the city, severance tax funds from the city, along with general funds from the county.
State, county, and municipal budgets are looking at serious loss in tax revenue, and according to Executive Director AJ Mock, a number of the annual grants could be lost if any of those matching funding sources were no longer available…
Mock believes the creation of a senior citizens special district would provide a stable funding source for a community that seeing its population growing older every year…
The issue will be on the August 18th primary ballot and if passed, the special district would be established with a one mill levee.
