PANEL TO EXAMINE SENIOR TAX USE; AGENCY DIRECTOR SAYS TRANSPORTATION KEY CONCERN

The network of senior citizens' services in Cape Girardeau County is so complicated that even those who administer the services have a tough time keeping track.

There are transit systems, day-care programs, recreation centers and meals on wheels. The programs are administered through not-for-profit groups, government agencies and Southeast Missouri State University.

Most of them share a common trait -- they receive some amount of funding from Cape County taxpayers. Now the County Commission wants to know who is getting what and how they are spending it.

Voters passed the senior citizens service tax in 1991. It collects 5 cents on every $100 assessed valuation, with an appointed board overseeing disbursements. Groups serving the elderly line up each year to receive funds.

The county collects between $250,000 and $300,000 annually from the tax.

Seven people serve on the Senior Citizens Service Fund Board. County commissioners want a four- or five-member oversight committee to look into the board's actions to be sure taxpayers are getting the most services for their money.

Gambill said the county funds about 17 or 18 agencies with the senior citizens tax. He fears there may be duplication in services and unnecessary property leasing. Transportation of the elderly is his biggest concern.

"We want to get people around the county and make sure we don't just have vans running all over the place," Gambill said. "We got the board's budget, but it wasn't very detailed so we began asking questions."

Gambill said he and the other two commissioners believe some requests already granted still may be in the budget, leading to unnecessary spending.

Dale Rauh, chairman of the Senior Citizens Service Fund Board, said his group welcomes an oversight committee and even suggested one. He agreed that transportation is the board's biggest concern. Despite at least six county-purchased or -sponsored vans, some senior citizens still are unable to get to medical appointments and grocery stores.

The problem, said Rauh, is too many transportation systems with too many different guidelines. Age, time of day and city of residence are factors affecting service from each agency.

Rauh wants to pull together directors from all the agencies, city officials from Cape Girardeau and Jackson and the County Commission to find a transportation plan acceptable to everyone. The plan may include several daily trips between Cape Girardeau and Jackson, regular trips to rural Cape County and buses serving Cape Girardeau.

It will be a mammoth task, Rauh said, because of the number of people involved.

But the work apparently is necessary: When the Area Agency on Aging conducted a series of town hall meetings last year, workers discovered that the elderly in Cape County are worried most about getting where they need to go.

Senior citizens discussed the confusing rules of various agencies. For example, Cape County Transit, a not-for-profit group, won't make runs after 3 p.m. It also can't pick up Cape Girardeau residents and take them to stores in the city; that is Kelley Transportation territory.

AAA director Glenda Hoffmeister said it would take a long time for anyone outside the senior-services realm to understand the complicated co-existence of all the agencies, but at the heart of everything are some unhappy elderly people.

"Everybody wants a van to come to their door when they want it," she said. "They want to be taken where they want to go when they want to go and then be taken home. And they don't want anyone else in the van. But there's just not the manhours or the vehicles out there to give everyone the service they want."

Until the system changes, she said, it will be up to seniors to organize their lives with transportation schedules in mind.

Suggestions and changes may be coming soon. The County Commission recently appointed businessman Charles Westrich to head up the oversight committee.

Gambill said Westrich received a list of other possible committee members and should recruit them in the next few weeks.