Lynnfield COA requests funding increase to service a spike in senior citizens

LYNNFIELD – The Lynnfield Council on Aging requested funding increases in Fiscal Year 2013 from the Board of Selectmen Monday night for staffing, meals and travel reimbursements to accommodate the spike in senior citizens it has serviced over recent years.?We are bursting at the seams. We are truly victims of our own success,” said Fred Santangelo, chairman of the Council on Aging?s Board of Directors.Santangelo asked for the $220 per week subsidy from the town for meals served at the senior center to be increased to $400. The center served meals to 15 people per day in 2008, he said, and that number has gone up to 50 per day, adding that the center now often turns people away.Board of Directors Secretary Anne Horihan said that the Council on Aging receives one-half of 1 percent of the town?s budget, yet serves 35 percent of the town?s population. The senior center currently sees 210 to 300 visitors per day, up from 50 in 2000. The Council on Aging also requested $1,400 for travel reimbursements, a five-hour increase in the hours worked per week by three staff members and $73,000 for a new van to replace the present one with over 100,000 miles.The school department was third to present its budget, and Superintendent Thomas Jefferson outlined the department?s proposed 4.9 percent increase in a PowerPoint presentation. He asked for additional middle school teachers to address class-size problems and math achievement, two new special education teachers to serve students in-district, a part-time technology support staff member and one part-time tutoring position at each elementary school. In addition, the department would also have to provide for the contractual salary increases for staff members.The Board of Assessors preceded the school department and Board Chair David Nelson recommended two budget increases for Fiscal Year 2013: reestablishing a full-time assistant assessor at a $78,000 salary and $40,000 for consulting work by Patriot Properties for the mandated, cyclical reviews of all properties in town.The Board of Selectmen meets again at Town Hall on Monday.Sarah Mupo can be reached at [email protected].