COUNTY SEEKS SENIOR BOARD APPLICATIONS

JACKSON - A new board to oversee the allocation of tax money for services for senior citizens will be established within about 90 days, Cape County Presiding Commissioner Gene Huckstep said Thursday.

The board will decide on the allocation of the tax money, about $220,000, that will be generated from a newly passed property tax levy.

"There won't be any money coming in from the tax until the end of the year, but we hope to have a board appointed within about 90 days," said Huckstep. "This should give them plenty of time to get organized and take applications from organizations interested in receiving some of the funds."

In their first meeting since voters approved a 5-cent tax for senior programs by a 281-vote margin on Tuesday, the county commissioners briefly discussed the process for appointing the seven-member Senior Services Board.

State law requires the commission to appoint the board to make decisions on how to allocate money generated by the tax. The commission, however, must give final approval to the budget each year.

The commission decided to accept applications for the board in writing so that interested Cape County residents could submit resumes and letters explaining why they want to serve on the board.

Huckstep said he did not envision the board being made up exclusively of members, age 60 and over, for which the tax revenue must be used.

"We do, however, want to encourage people from all over the county to apply to ensure that we have representation from all over," said Huckstep.

In their discussion Thursday, the commissioners agreed that the board needed be representative of the entire county and needed to have qualified, dedicated members to get a good system in place for allocating funds and seeing that all needs are studied and addressed.

Huckstep has expressed some concern that there are many agencies that might like to apply for the funds and a lot more needs than the $220,000 available can address.

"This makes it very important that we make every effort to appoint a first-class board," the presiding commissioner said.

The 5-cent tax will appear on tax bills that will be mailed out in November.