HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC AG PKT 2013-08-26 #JAGENDA STAFF REPORT
DATE: August 26, 2013
TO: Honorable Mayor and City Council
THRU: Jill R. Ingram, City Manager
FROM: Patrick Gallegos, Administrative Manager
SUBJECT: SENIOR MEALS UPDATE
SUMMARY OF REQUEST:
That the City Council fund the cost of congregate meals that will be lost as a
result of sequestration for the remainder of Fiscal Year 2013/14.
BACKGROUND AND ANALYSIS:
The City of Seal Beach currently offers senior meals to local seniors through a
program administered by Community SeniorServ, Inc. SeniorSery offers both
home delivered meals and congregate meals at the North Seal Beach Center.
The congregate meals program currently serves an average of 32 meals a day
and last fiscal year served a total of 8,277 meals. Senior Serve currently provides
a site supervisor that is onsite at the North Seal Beach Center five days a week
to oversee the program.
Due to the impacts of federal sequestration, SeniorSery is being heavily
impacted. The budget cutbacks will reduce the number of meals provided
Countywide by 67,000. In response to the budget shortfall created by
sequestration, SeniorSery has proposed a number of changes to the congregate
meals program as it currently operates. Home delivered meals will see little
change to the program and information will be provided to users as it becomes
available.
To address the budget shortfall created by sequestration, SeniorSery has
presented the City with two options to reduce costs of congregate meals. Based
on the time frame that has been presented to the City, these changes would take
place as of September 1, 2013:
Option 1 — Cap Meals — SeniorSery can cap the number of meals that
are provided per day. The cap number would be based upon the City's
current number of meals provided with a 10% reduction. This could allow
the program to operate five days a week, but would likely result in seniors
being turned away without meals.
Agenda Item J
Option 2 — Closure Days — To fill the budget void, SeniorSery has
proposed not offering meals one day a week. Under this scenario,
congregate meals would not be available to the public on Friday; however,
home delivered meals would still be available. On Fridays, the facility
serves an average of 33 people for congregate meals. Closing for one
day would reduce the number meals served between September and
June by 1,350. The City could choose to close another day but based on
services provided in other cities, Friday is the preferred closure day.
Should Council decide to implement option 2, the City could look to create
an alternative program that would provide a similar service to senior
meals; however, this would not be feasible by September 1st.
In an effort to try and reduce the impacts of sequestration, SeniorSery has
created a fundraising campaign entitled "Lunch is on Me." This campaign allows
donations to be made to the senior meals programs. Through the program,
donations can be specified to a specific city. Hence, a donor could specify that
his/her donation go to Seal Beach seniors.
At this time, there are still a number of unanswered questions that staff will
continue to closely monitor regarding specific cuts to services. Based on the
number of meals that the City would be losing for the remainder of the fiscal year,
staff feels that it would be in the best interest of the community to fund the
estimated meals lost while working with SeniorSery and other community
partners to support the senior meal program in the future.
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT:
There is no Environmental Impact related to this item.
LEGAL ANALYSIS:
No legal analysis is required for this item.
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
The additional costs necessary to make up for the reduction in service was not
anticipated during the budget process because the exact effects of sequestration
had not been reported to the City. To make up the cost of meals lost, the City
will have to purchase about 1,350 meals for the remainder of the fiscal year. The
cost to provide the additional meals will be $12,500.
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RECOMMENDATION:
That the City Council fund the cost of congregate meals that will be lost as a
result of sequestration for the remainder of Fiscal Year 2013/14.
SUBMITTED BY: NOTED AND APPROVED:
Patrick Gallegos
Administrative Manager
r
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gr.' Ingram, Cit anager
Prepared by: Tim Kelsey, Recreation Manager
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