Toledo Seniors’ Overpayment to County Still Stuck in Bureaucratic Limbo

Posted

Members of the Toledo Senior Center want their money back. Lewis County officials want to turn it over. But legal concerns have stymied efforts to return the seniors’ overpayment to the county coffers, and it will be at least a few more weeks — and a few more levels of bureaucracy — before an agreement can be reached.

“I may not live long enough to see this get taken care of,” joked Mona Rae Fish, secretary of the Toledo Mighty Fine Seniors.

Fish, who is 88, approached the county in January about $19,000 the center had overpaid in 2016. After months of meetings and dialogue, it appeared the parties were close to a resolution, but last-minute legal concerns have added a new layer of complexity to the proposal.

The issue arose when the county ran operations at the senior centers, requiring monthly fundraising contributions from each center to help pay for its programs. Due to a miscommunication, Toledo over-contributed, and it was promised that money would be set aside by the county to cover its future fundraising obligations.

However, the centers were transferred from county control to the oversight of a nonprofit group — Lewis County Seniors — last year, leaving about $19,000 of Toledo’s money in the county coffers. With no written contract, only a verbal promise, regarding restoration of the money, county officials began exploring how to make things right with Toledo.

Giving the money back outright did not seem to be an option, as it may have constituted an illegal gift of public funds. However, since the county still owns the Toledo Senior Center building, it proposed to pay for upgrades and enhancements to the facility in the amount that was owed, covering things like handicap accessible doors.

On Tuesday, county commissioners had an agreement that they were prepared to present to representatives from Toledo, but board chair Bobby Jackson expressed concern that proposal could cause future headaches for the county.

Though the initial fundraising agreement was made with leadership from the Toledo Senior Center, the center is now under the governance of the Lewis County Seniors nonprofit. By negotiating with Toledo and not the nonprofit board, Jackson said, the county could open itself up to future claims from other local centers that want to bypass their governing body.

“What’s to prevent other senior centers to come to us with complaints instead of their board?” he said. “It could turn into a disaster if we have senior centers that are bypassing the board and coming to us for relief.”

Jackson expressed that concern in a meeting with the county prosecutor’s office, just minutes before the meeting with representatives from Toledo. Civil deputy prosecutor Eric Eisenberg agreed that bypassing the nonprofit board could create future liability.

“We could be at risk when other centers come calling,” he said. “I don’t love the fact that we are in some ways setting ourselves up for that.”



Commissioners previously discussed the issue with the Lewis County Seniors board, who said it was not their role to take part in negotiations about a past agreement with the Toledo center. However, after much discussion, county leaders decided the best approach was to urge the board to come back to the table.

“We want to fix this,” said commissioner Gary Stamper. “It’s not a question of not wanting to fix this, because we plan on fixing it. We need to figure out how to properly vet that to make sure we’re not involved with other situations.”

During the meeting with the prosecutor’s office, commissioners agreed to take the proposal off the table when they sat down with Toledo minutes later. Instead, they explained the offer to Toledo and the desire to get the nonprofit board involved.

“This all happened before the nonprofit took over,” Fish argued. “I was told by our attorneys that it did not affect the nonprofit board whatsoever.”

Fred Wilson, another representative from the Toledo Senior Center, was not keen on the idea of doing building repairs in lieu of repayment.

“Put it in the bank where it’s supposed to be,” he said.

Fish, though, said she understood the constraints on the county’s ability to transfer the money, and she was relieved when she learned the building work would be for improvements “above and beyond” regular maintenance.

Wilson and Fish agreed to take the proposal back to the Toledo Senior Center’s advisory board next week, which could then opt to send it to the Lewis County Seniors board, which could opt back into the discussion when they meet next month.

Meanwhile, the county said it will work on getting quotes for potential upgrades from a contractor, with the hope of getting work started as soon as an agreement is finalized.

“At least it shows that you are doing something,” Fish said. “A goodwill thing that’s coming.”