As CASI kicked off its yearlong Golden Anniversary on Tuesday, Feb. 7, at the Center for Active Seniors, Inc., its leaders were keeping a close eye on a proposed $50,000 funding cut that could rob at-risk seniors of essential services. More than 280 CASI members, supporters, families and friends packed a celebratory luncheon to say […]
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As CASI kicked off its yearlong Golden Anniversary on Tuesday, Feb. 7, at the Center for Active Seniors, Inc., its leaders were keeping a close eye on a proposed $50,000 funding cut that could rob at-risk seniors of essential services.
More than 280 CASI members, supporters, families and friends packed a celebratory luncheon to say “Happy Birthday” to the 50-year-old organization at the CASI’s buzzing Celebration Hall – not far from the entrance to the potential target of that budget cut: Jane’s Place Adult Day Services.
The adult daycare center, located within CASI at 1035 W. Kimberly Road in Davenport, serves 200 older adults living with brain injuries, intellectual disabilities, Alzheimer's, dementia and other diseases. The home-like environment, individualized care plans, and trained professional staff there have helped Quad Cities seniors stay at home up to 24 months longer than they would without them, according to CASI President and CEO Laura Kopp. And Jane’s Place does it at a fraction of the cost of institutional and professional at-home care.
If the Scott County Board of Supervisors accepts a staff recommendation to cut 100% of the funding it provides each year to Jane's Place, however, Ms. Kopp worries that it could eventually force the organization to close the adult daycare center’s doors.
Scott County’s annual $50,000 Jane’s Place appropriation represents a quarter of the operating budget for the daycare center which also offers a vital respite for family members and essential socialization and activities for the seniors under its care, Ms. Kopp said. (The county’s current proposed budget left untouched the funding Scott County provides for CASI’s free senior advocacy program. It helps 2,500 Quad Cities seniors to live independently each year.)
For Scott County leaders, the problem is one of dollars and cents. And what the board ends up cutting from its budget, where, and how much depends, in large part, on what leaders in Des Moines do with a property tax rollback plan under consideration.
The Iowa Senate recently passed a bill to fix an error in a 2021 property tax law that gave local governments more money than it should have. According to the Iowa League of Cities, due to that mistake and the effort to correct it, Iowa cities could see an annual reduction of $39 million while school districts could see a $21.4 million cut in property tax revenues. Those government bodies will have to fill those holes quickly.
Scott County Board Chairman Ken Beck told the QCBJ on Tuesday, Feb. 7, “The board is still in the process of evaluating potential reductions in our budget across all areas. Until the legislators provide the cities and counties with a clear direction on their plans to reduce property taxes, it is premature to discuss necessary reductions Scott County will take.”
Jean Dickson, a former CASI board member who also now serves on the Scott County Board, added that the final state property tax rollback plan “is likely going to impact our decision on budgeting and reductions. Until we have a better picture on what they decide, the board is continuing to evaluate potential reductions in the budget across all areas.”
In the interim, CASI supporters are beginning to spread the word about the services and benefits Jane’s Place provides and what could be lost if the budget cut stands for the daycare and for a CASI organization that still is trying to dig its way out of the devastating COVID-19 crisis.
Consider, Ms. Kopp said, if Jane’s Place loses $50,000 in local funding, it will be the third major economic upheaval for CASI, which still is struggling to fully recover from the lingering pandemic that resulted in the center losing $700,000 in earned income when it was forced to close for a year.
Even when it reopened, mask requirements and concerns over the COVID-19 Omicron and Delta strains kept many members at home, sending earned income on a downward spiral. Even now, with the mask mandate lifted and the COVID threat on the decline many seniors still are slow to return. When many of them do, their need for services is greater than ever due to the problems created by the long period of fear and isolation.
Thanks to generous donors and supporters, CASI has so far weathered those and other economic storms to make it to its 50th year, including losing a large chunk of its funding when the United Way of the Quad Cities was reorganized and repurposed in 2018. But as CASI’s challenges continue to mount, answering them becomes more challenging.
That’s because, even as its traditional funding sources have shrunk, the need for services at Jane’s Place, CASI and elsewhere have grown, Ms. Kopp said.
“Over the last 10 years, the 65 and older population in Scott County has grown by 38% as the baby boomer generation continues to age. In that same 10-year time period, CASI’s revenue has decreased by 22%,” Ms. Kopp wrote in a recent letter to Jane’s Place families outlining the current challenge.
Ms. Kopp and others at CASI hope this year’s 50th Anniversary celebration will help boost the agency’s profile and increase fundraising in both the public and private sectors. That includes via a series of special events scheduled throughout the Golden Anniversary year. In addition, information about individual donations can be found here.
