Four eastern Colorado counties that rejected federal stimulus funds for senior-citizens meals have changed their minds and will take the money.
The East Central Council of Local Governments decided last month to reject about $17,000 in stimulus money for the meals. The agency provided more than 28,000 meals last year to seniors in Cheyenne, Elbert, Kit Carson and Lincoln counties.
The council originally turned down the money because officials didn’t want to add services they couldn’t sustain once the money ran out. However, state officials asked the council to reconsider and offered suggestions on how to use the money, so the council changed course and voted 11-0 Wednesday to accept it.
The council oversees the East Central Area Agency on Aging. The panel, made up of county officials, decided to reject the one-time grant of $16,939, saying they couldn’t meet deadlines to spend the money and they didn’t like a requirement that the grant be spent on food.
“It didn’t seem like a wise decision to take it, so we turned it down,” said Jo Downey, director of the council. “We couldn’t see buying food that we’d waste.”
Downey said the counties weren’t sure the small grant was worth scrambling to meet its terms. Council members worried about increased paperwork and a required 15 percent local match.
“If you want the government off your back, you better get your hands out of the government’s pocket,” she said. “Frankly, it was not a difficult decision to make.”
State officials pleaded with the four counties to reconsider. They explained that the stimulus money must be spent on meals, not equipment — but that the council could shift money it originally intended for meals to equipment.
Downey said that once the council learned more about how it could use the money, members changed their minds. Now, the grant will be used for meals; the council will use meal money to buy a new industrial-size dishwasher and mixer, plus 10 GPS systems for vans that deliver meals to rural seniors.
Todd Coffey, manager of the State Unit on Aging, said Thursday that the East Central Council was the only one in Colorado to turn down funding.
