Sweden discusses budget, changes to senior center food prep

Sweden discusses budget,
changes to senior center food prep

The public hearing on the Town of Sweden budget was less about tax rates, revenues and appropriations and more about a $50,000 change in the budget of the Sweden Senior Center.

For more than an hour and a half, residents, and non-residents alike, voiced their displeasure with town officials' decisions to do away with on-site food preparation at the center and contract with the Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired (ABVI) for off-site preparation and delivery of noon meals.

Prior to opening the floor to residents, Town Supervisor Nat Lester said, "The good news with the budget is we are offering the same level of service in 2007 that taxpayers currently enjoy. In addition, taxpayers will see a decrease in their rates," he said. "The town had a gain in valuation because of new construction and assessor updates."

Included in the budget are employee raises, and raises to meet new minimum wage standards, the addition of highway equipment, and $25,000 for paving of the highway garage parking lot.

Lester explained that when the assessor prepares the tax rolls, that all properties - even tax exempt ones - are taken into consideration. However, when tax rates are set, the tax exempt properties are excluded. "In Sweden, nearly half of all properties are tax exempt, that includes buildings like schools and churches," he said. "Of the 932 towns in New York state, only 16 towns have more property that is exempt than we do. That means towns that don't have as much exempt property are able to spread tax increases over a wider tax base."

When it came time to discuss the Sweden Senior Center meals, Lester said the town will contract with a caterer - ABVI - to provide lunches through the center. "The center will continue to provide the same nutritious meals, we are just changing the way they are delivered," he said. "Sweden is the only town that cooks its meals on site. It makes sense, economically, to bring in the lunches."

The meals served through the center are under a nutrition program run through the Monroe County Office of the Aging. The meals would remain the same, down to the "last grain of salt," Lester said, because the menu is set by the county. Sweden currently prepares 100 meals on-site; 50 of those meals are catered for senior centers in Ogden, Parma and Riga; the remaining 50 meals are eaten at the Sweden Center, about half of those are consumed by non-Sweden residents. It currently costs $7 to prepare the meals, while the cost under ABVI will be $4 per meal. A suggested contribution of at least $2 per meal is requested, but not enforced. The town's Finance Director, Leisa Strabel, said the average collected in the past year was $1.72 per meal.
"In 2005, the meal program cost the taxpayers $50,000 and 75 percent of the meals prepared by the center are for people who do not live, or pay taxes, in Sweden," Lester said. "We have asked the other towns that participate to pony up more money but they said no."

By contracting with ABVI, Lester said town officials are honoring their duties to the taxpayers of Sweden. "We wouldn't ask Sweden taxpayers for us to pave or plow the streets in another town but because of federal regulations we have to supply meals to other communities."

Lester stressed the fact that nothing else at the center would change and that five meals a week would be served. There would be no loss in programs or funding, however there will be a reduction in the kitchen staff once the switch to ABVI happens in January. "The seniors will continue to have access to healthy, nutritious lunches and be able to meet and have lunch with their friends while at the same time we are being fiscally responsible to those who pick up the tab -the Sweden taxpayers."

Robert Canham, who lives in the Village of Brockport, was the first to take to the podium during the public hearing. "The center is the humane arm of Sweden. They provide a healthy, quality meal five times a week as well as offering intergenerational programs," he said. "We should have had an opportunity to brainstorm with the board to look at ways to raise money."

Canham said the ABVI program is "not good" because the food has been on the road for a while. "We will be faced with soggy vegetables and dried out meat," he said. "Also, why haven't we heard about this before? Why weren't we aware of the deficit?

Lester said the Senior Center Director and staff were involved in discussions and that the situation had been discussed at many board meetings throughout the year. "We have talked about this and the town can't keep up with the costs of running the program."

Councilman Tom Ferris said, "The staff at the center provided us with the numbers and those numbers led us to make this decision. We are the fiduciaries for the Sweden taxpayers and while your arguments are compelling, it's unfair to burden the taxpayers to fund a program for so many people who don't live in the town," he said. "Only 25 percent of the meals we serve every day go to benefit Sweden taxpayers."

Lester said if members of the center can do fundraising and build a fund balance and a reserve, town officials could revisit the meal program.

Marilyn Lafferty, a Sweden resident, said she was unhappy with the way this was handled, but added, "I'd rather not see money go to other towns because we can't afford to support them any more than they could afford to support me," she said. "I think we have to give it a chance. Try the lunches. Keep track of things that are raw or overcooked and report it. In the meantime we will have to find a way to raise money so we can get our own program back."

Dora Jones questioned how ABVI could provide a meal for $4 when it cost Sweden $7.

"It's an economy of scale," Ferris said. "It costs more to produce 100 meals than it does to produce 1,000. The more you serve, the less the cost per meal."

Councilperson Rob Carges said, "The thing to do is hammer the other towns whose residents take advantage of the programs."

Town of Ogden Supervisor Gay Lenhard said she understands what the Town of Sweden is going through. "They are running programs that started because of federal funding but that funding isn't keeping pace with current costs."

She said Ogden's budget includes $28,000 for the running of the nutrition program in the town. That figure goes toward salaries as well as meals. "We pay $3.90 a meal," she said. "The county dictates that we pay Sweden for the program.

The Town of Sweden bills Ogden for meals served. The Towns of Riga and Parma's reimbursement for meals served is paid by Monroe County and goes back to Town of Sweden coffers.

Lenhard said the suggested contribution for the meals is $2 but she has asked to be allowed to increase that to $2.50. Lenhard said, "There might be a perception of differing quality of the meals. The delivery of the meals will now be better for our center because in the past we had to rely on volunteers to go and pick up the meals from Sweden."

Ferris said the town has no problem providing meals for Sweden residents but that town officials do have a problem paying for out of town residents' meals. "This situation wouldn't exist if the other towns chipped in," he said.

Resident Tim Bates, who ran for town office in the 2005 election said, "I know these people have agonized over this decision. I have been at every meeting and have heard them discussing it," he said. "The budget has been taking a hit for a long time now. When I ran against them I fought them on every dime they spent but this is a logical decision. They have to make it."

Linda Hale, a Hamlin resident, said, "It's a sad thing that we, as non-residents, are being blamed for this. I understand the decision in the bigger sense but I think pointing fingers and making us responsible isn't very neighborly."

Councilperson Danielle Windus Cook said the town has been debating this for a long time and has looked for solutions but assured those in the audience that the town is not blaming non-residents. The bottom line on the budget - which was not voted on that evening - brings with it various projected tax rates per $1,000 of assessed valuation. For taxpayers within the Village of Brockport - $2.33, they are $2.35 currently; tax rates for taxpayers outside the village are estimated at $4.43, they are currently at $4.51 per $1,000.