Estimated read time: 6-7 minutes
OGDEN — Members of the Weber Human Services board faced the backlash of senior citizens Friday morning after announcing their decision earlier in the week to concentrate senior center funding on four county facilities, not including the Riverdale Senior Center.
The blow, coupled with shrinking revenue from sales tax in Riverdale, has put the center's future in jeopardy.
Miranda Rizzi, the senior center's director, heard the news Wednesday. "It's really hard to understand," she told KSL.com. "Our senior center does three times the services that any of the other centers in our county do. The seniors are really upset."
Many of those upset seniors showed up at the Weber Human Services board meeting Friday morning in Ogden to voice their concern about the decision, though there was nothing on the agenda that would prompt further action. In a third-floor conference room, the community that frequents Riverdale's senior center, coming from all over Weber and Davis County, filled rows of desks fanning out radially from a table in the middle.
The overwhelming question — why Riverdale?
A 'four-center model'
Senior centers are one of many aging services funded by federal dollars from the Older Americans Act, according to Weber County Commissioner Jim Harvey. That money is matched at the state level and distributed to counties based on the percentage of seniors. Counties also put in matching funds, with Weber County exceeding the required match already.
That money goes to Weber Human Services to pay for the senior services they offer, according to staff member Michelle Jensen. The Older Americans Act money has seen slight increases over the last two decades, canceled out by the shifting state distribution. The population of seniors in Weber County, Jensen says, has not grown as fast as other parts of the state, so Weber Human Services receives a shrinking percentage of those federal funds.
In July, the Weber Human Services board gave Riverdale Senior Center one year of funding, or $59,000, that extends to the end of June while they considered options of closing down facilities and concentrating funds, Weber Human Services CEO Kevin Eastman told KSL.com.
Taking into account the significant projected growth of seniors in the coming decades, the board received the advice of the Weber-Morgan Council on Aging they "consider not stretching the limited funds to more than four senior centers." In November, they voted to move to a four-center model. Specific centers to receive the funding were not announced until Wednesday, including Roy, Washington Terrace, Ogden and North Ogden.
It's a puzzling decision for Rizzi. "We are the biggest building. We're the building that can serve the most seniors in Weber County, period," she said at the board meeting. "We're here, we're ready to serve that added amount of seniors. ... Why are we the first one on the chopping block?"
Why Riverdale?
Walking into the center off Riverdale Road on Friday morning, one is greeted immediately by a friendly front desk volunteer. Seniors were ambling out of yoga class in one room; another meditation class was set to start. The expansive cafeteria featured festive decorations, with old friends chatting under a Christmas tree.
Stephen Timothy, a proud veteran, told KSL.com, "They make wonderful meals from scratch in a beautiful kitchen ... for so many of us seniors, it's probably the only warm meal many of us get."
At the board meeting, many grew emotional while speaking on the profoundly positive impact the Riverdale community had on their lives as volunteers and patrons.
The facility was built at a time when the city received a large portion of sales tax from the businesses. That portion is decreasing from 75% to 50% by 2030, leaving a large hole in the city's budget, according to Steve Brooks, Riverdale City administrator.
"We are not a Riverdale center anymore. We are a county center," Brooks said. "Why should those 10,000 people, one of the smallest cities in the county, why is it their obligation to fund a countywide facility?"
According to Rizzi, the Riverdale facility has been working with the Weber Human Services board for the last year. The board came to her with three criteria, she says. "We were the city that met your criteria ... after that, there was an extra criterion added, and it was the location. That's what we were told the other day is why we are not being chosen."
The board's decision prized "geographical locations for accessibility," over other factors, Eastman said.
"It's just that simple," he said. "That's the metrics that they decided this on." Riverdale, they believe, despite its admittedly superior infrastructure, is less accessible than others.
One center — Washington Terrace — Rizzi argues "is very, very small. They don't get very much participation. They've cut their hours recently. It's just not functioning, but they would be getting the money instead of us."
At 10:30 a.m. Friday, a band was setting up in the Washington Terrace center. It's much smaller than Riverdale, but just as lively on the occasion. Couples were dressed up, faces full of glitter, dancing to live music.
The director of the Washington Terrace Senior Center, amid rumors of shutting down, said she reduced her role to part-time in July, and Washington Terrace Mayor Mark Allen said he was able to work with South Ogden City Council to help with funding and continue operation.
Eastman said, "Their argument is logical, well thought out." For the board, however, the existing financial partnerships were important.
Ogden and North Ogden centers have strong budgets, Eastman says, due to city funding. "Riverdale has always done their own thing," Eastman says. "We funded them for a year because we wanted them to be included" in the decision process, he said.
"It really just came down to: What is the maximum amount they can continue to fund and create the best accessibility for the citizens living in Weber County?"
According to Eastman, the decision was between the last three centers — "Washington Terrace, Riverdale and Roy, all within the same proximity, and we only got 2 spots left."
The board felt that Riverdale had a chance of staying open without county help, despite Brooks' warnings. "You guys keep saying Riverdale has been funding this forever," he said. "Yeah we did, but back in those days, we could afford to do it. We can't anymore."
After June 2025, the Riverdale center has the option of charging a fee for usage to cover costs, though Rizzi says those on fixed incomes may find it hard to supplement the difference.
According to Rizzi, the center is still in talks with Riverdale City on potential alternative funding opportunities.
