The Nodaway County Senior Services Fund Tax Board will meet at 1 pm, Wednesday, January 15 in the county administrative center to divide senior citizen tax monies.

These monies were gathered from the 5¢ per $100 assessed valuation across Nodaway County. The tax has been collected annually since 2000, and each year, the senior services tax board designates the amount of funds given to various agencies.

Officers for the year are Ruth Adwell, chairman, Wayne Boswell, vice chairman, and Jean Caulkins, secretary. Others serving on the board are Cheryl Chesnut, Susan Hull and Jeanette Brookshier.

In 2025, six agencies received $224,850. The agency grants: PAT System, $12,000; Nodaway County Senior Center, $150,000; Maitland Nutrition Site, $59,000; OATS, $12,000; Health Emergency Life Line, $2,000; Nodaway County Ministry Center, $20,000; and Ravenwood Senior Housing, $10,000. The board also allocated $150 for expenses. A contingency is held in reserve for emergency cases throughout the year.

Through the years, the commission has allocated over $3.3 million to agencies that aid Nodaway County residents.

State statutes dictate the duties of the board noting, “The board of directors shall use the funds in the senior citizens’ services fund to provide programs which will improve the health, nutrition, and quality of life of persons who are sixty years of age or older. The budget may allocate funds for operational and capital needs to senior-related programs in the county or city in which such property taxes are collected.”

The board would like to have more not-for-profit agencies apply so the monies gained by the county-wide taxes would better cover the county’s senior citizen population.

“Since SSM Hospice and their affiliates are no longer serving this county, we have sufficient tax funds to help more organizations that serve seniors in Nodaway County. Everyone in the county pays the taxes into the fund so we would like to help others throughout the county that meet the qualifications,” noted Caulkins.