Dear editor:

We hope area voters will support the special-purpose 1-cent sales tax proposition on this year’s general election ballot. It is limited to roughly two years, and Powell’s portion of the collections will help finance a new senior center facility. For the last 53 years the Powell Senior Center has enhanced senior citizens’ quality of life and enabled many to live independently at an affordable cost.

A third of Park County residents are 60 and over. In the Powell service area this population is growing rapidly. Nearly half of these folks utilize one or more senior center services, whether it be congregate and home-delivered meals, transportation, group exercise and enrichment programs, or help with Medicare and Social Security applications.

The Powell Senior Center has seen growing demand for its services. This demand could be even higher if not for artificial constraints imposed by an inadequate facility. Popular programs compete for limited space. Incredibly, the cooks prepare 200 meals per day in a small and antiquated kitchen. The lack of adequate close-in parking discourages some seniors with limited mobility.

The new building will offer ample parking, handicapped access, state-of-the-art kitchen facilities, a larger dining area, separate rooms for multiple programs, and private offices to facilitate one-on-one assistance. It will give the senior center’s first-class director and its dedicated staff the resources they need to improve the lives of an expanding elder population.

The new senior center and the services it will provide are an efficient use of public funding. Keeping people out of long-term care facilities cuts Wyoming’s share of Medicaid disbursements far more than the cost of state support. Senior centers also leverage federal dollars that cover meals for seniors or people on Medicaid, and on-demand transportation for the public at large. Finally, the special-purpose 1-cent sales tax would leverage money from outside Park County, since a third of the county’s sales tax comes from visitors.

All of us are either currently senior citizens, relatives of seniors, or — with a little luck — future seniors. A vote for this special sales tax benefits everyone. The Powell community has always taken pride in the generosity of its people and the quality of its public resources. Here’s your chance to carry on that tradition.

Sincerely,

Linda and Ronn Smith

Powell