Thursday, February 26, 2009
By Ed Runyan
The director of SCOPE said the agency disagrees with the commissioners’ order.
WARREN — Trumbull County commissioners have ordered SCOPE of Trumbull County, a senior citizens service agency, to repay $90,000 that commissioners say the organization overbilled the senior services levy.
The Senior Citizens Opportunity for Personal Endeavor and the county commissioners have negotiated for several months on the issue.
“Because these negotiations have been fruitless, the Board of Commissioners is left with no alternative other than implementing a resolution,” said a letter dated Feb. 18 to SCOPE.
The letter asks SCOPE to pay back the money through invoice reduction and credit for services performed above its monthly allotment.
Commissioner Frank Fuda said that means SCOPE will be able to repay the money by providing services over the next 18 months without full payment for them until the $90,000 level is reached.
It won’t involve SCOPE’s making any direct repayments, Fuda said.
The Area Agency on Aging 11 based in Youngstown has had a contract with county commissioners since 2007 to oversee the spending of the $2.6 million being raised annually from the countywide levy approved by voters in November 2005.
Last year, the agency said SCOPE had overbilled for services such as line dancing and golf by charging the levy $33 per hour for activities that should have cost about $9 per hour.
Janet Schweitzer, SCOPE director, said SCOPE was given no option but to charge $33 per hour.
The Area Agency said last fall that SCOPE overbilled about $165,000. In recent weeks, the agency has sought repayment of about $120,000.
When reached Wednesday afternoon, Schweitzer said SCOPE disagreed with the order to reimburse $90,000, though the 19-member SCOPE board has not yet discussed the letter.“I don’t know what will happen,” she said.
The letter tells SCOPE the commissioners hired the Area Agency to oversee spending of the levy money “to ensure that the senior levy funds were spent in a responsible manner.”
The letter, signed by Fuda and Commissioners Dan Polivka and Paul Heltzel, says SCOPE has “elected to spend its earmarked funds within its own interpretation” of its contract.
“You have to do it right to get the money,” Fuda said of agencies receiving levy money for providing services to senior citizens 60 and older. “The citizens expect you to have documentation for everything.”
SCOPE was awarded $643,851 in senior levy funds in 2007, $428,671 for operation of senior centers and $215,180 to provide personal care, homemaker services, adult day care, adult day-care transportation and chore services. SCOPE was awarded roughly the same amount in 2008.
Fuda said SCOPE will still get levy money in the next round of distributions. The Seniors Advisory Council, another body that oversees levy spending, recently recommended that SCOPE receive up to $665,000 in 2009 levy money.
Fuda said commissioners will not have time to approve the 2009 levy distributions at today’s meeting and will likely approve distributions next week.