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Madison Township Increases Financial Contribution to the Madison Senior Center
Madison Township trustees approved a $5,000 increase in its annual financial contribution to the Madison Senior Center.
The trustees, during the May 30 meeting, voted unanimously in favor of providing additional funding.
The county’s annual grant to the Madison Senior Center became a topic of discussion at the meeting after trustees approved payment of the county’s bills for the month of May.
The county’s fiscal officer, Sarah Hamercheck, said one of the biggest bills in May was the county’s $10,000 annual contribution to the senior center. That bill was paid to Madison Village, as the senior center budget is included in the village’s overall budget.
The senior center is located at 2938 Hubbard Road in Madison Village.
Trustee Kenneth Gauntner Jr. said he recalled that trustees discussed in early 2024 about increasing the senior center’s contribution by $5,000.
“We talked about raising it to $15,000, but we didn’t do it,” he said. “We’ve been giving them $10,000 for over 10 years.”
County Administrator Tim Brown said he does not handle any of the paperwork involved in paying the senior center’s annual allocation. He wondered if the request to increase the stipend by $5,000 “might have been lost in translation” when the county changed supervisors earlier this year.
Longtime city fiscal officer Terry Gerred-Ditchcreek opted not to run for another term in the November 2023 election. But she remained fiscal director until the end of March, and likely would have been present at the meeting in early 2024 when Gauntner suggested increasing the $10,000 allocation for the senior center by $5,000.
Hamercheck, who ran unopposed in November to succeed Gerred-Ditchcreek, took office on April 1, the start date for municipal treasurers in Ohio. Therefore, it was Hamercheck who oversaw the payment of the city’s May bills, which included the senior center’s contribution.
Gauntner said he still believes the county should revise its contract with the village to provide higher compensation to the senior center.
“We have a little more money than we had in 2014 when we signed the current contract,” he said. “And I thought another $5,000, increasing to $15,000, would be appropriate.”
While the county’s allocation has remained at $10,000 for 10 years, the senior center has undoubtedly seen increases during the same period in its operating expenses, such as utility bills, staffing and programming, Gauntner said.
Gauntner also said he is confident that Madison Township is not paying an exorbitant amount of money to support the Madison Senior Center.
“I sit on the Lake County Senior Advisory Panel to the county commissioners and I know that many communities give a lot more money to their senior centers than what we are giving,” he said.
A little later in the meeting, Gauntner was joined by trustees Peter Wayman and Max Anderson Jr., who is chairman of the panel, to authorize an additional payment of $5,000 toward the county’s senior center contribution in 2024. The trustees also requested that Brown modify the current agreement with the village to say the new annual grant from the village to the senior center is $15,000.
Madison Village Trustee Dwayne Bailey thanked the trustees for their generosity.
“We are very grateful that the municipality has increased its contribution to the senior center,” he said in a June 6 interview.
Bailey said he hopes the Madison Village Board will be inspired by the trustees’ decision and take action to increase the village’s annual senior center allocation.
The village currently contributes $4,000 a year to the senior center. At this point, Bailey said he’s not sure how much the board would consider increasing the senior center’s stipend.
“I hope to have the review of the agreement on the agenda for the June 24 council meeting,” Bailey said.
The Lake County Senior Services Levy provides much of the funding needed to operate the Madison Senior Center, he added.