At the start of the year, the Cole County Commission made it known to nonprofit agencies they may not get money from the county in 2017.
Bill Deeken, former county clerk and current vice president for the Senior Nutrition Center, told the commission on Tuesday the funds the center gets from them is vital to their survival.
Since the 1990s, the county has annually appropriated $10,000 to the Senior Nutrition Center for its work in providing meals/activities to senior citizens in the county.
The center has two sites and serves approximately 120 home-bound residents and 200 indigents.
So far this year, the center has served 76,683, including meals to Osage County residents since the center there closed.
Deeken said various sources provide nearly $500,000 of the center expenses, but it still needs $77,000 to pay the rest of its needs. The $10,000 previously provided by the county helps with those, he said.
For many years, the commission has approved funds through contracts for not-for-profit agencies that provide county health/welfare programs. State law allows for the contracts, and the county has done so since 1909.
Any agency may ask to make a presentation to the three-member commission, which then reviews the contracts during budget time.
With some exceptions, most agreements do not require additional or specific services beyond what the agency routinely provides.
Deeken said if the center knew it could generate the money through donations or fundraisers, officials wouldn't come to the commission asking for money.
"If we were an organization that was raising money for children, we would get a lot of money," Deeken told commissioners. "It's a shame because the people that helped build this community to where it is today, many of them are now in need of our help and without the funding we get from you, we probably couldn't give that to them."
Eastern District Commissioner Jeff Hoelscher said the notices with this year's donations were only letting these groups know it was possible funding may not come in 2017.
"It's purely a budget issue as far as I'm concerned," Hoelscher said.
Western District Commissioner Kris Scheperle has voted against giving money to many of these agencies, saying he didn't think it was the government's role to use tax dollars to fund these groups.
"I know our letter we sent these groups said this may be the last year we do this," Cole County Presiding Commissioner Sam Bushman said, "but there are so many good groups. Where do you stop? We're going to make some people happy and some angry."