Butler County’s senior centers will have decreased operating hours.

The county commissioners Wednesday voted to renew the contract with PCN Senior Center Management to run the county’s senior centers.

It runs from July 1 to June 30, 2016, for $305,524. This is nearly $94,000 less than the current contract, and no county money is involved.

Under the new contract, the Butler and Cranberry Township centers will remain open five days a week; the Chicora, Evans City, Mars and Slippery Rock centers will be open three days a week instead of five; and the Mount Chestnut and Winfield Township centers will stay open two days a week.

The county will only provide meals at the West Sunbury and Zelienople senior centers. West Sunbury will be managed by the West Sunbury Presbyterian Church. The county is in talks to have Passavant Community Senior Living Community operate the Zelienople center.

The county Area Agency on Aging voted in May to recommend the new schedule.

Commissioners Bill McCarrier and Dale Pinkerton voted for the contract, but Commissioner Jim Eckstein, who has spoken out against limiting center hours, voted against it.

“It’s not a proud day for me. It’s a sad day for me,” Eckstein said.

He said it seems the county keeps increasing costs but is choosing to cut from the seniors, and said the state funding allocation to the county that pays for the centers has not decreased.

McCarrier said the money that funds senior centers come from state money that also pays for items such as transportation, legal services, medical equipment and home modifications for seniors.

“All of these programs come out of that pool of money,” McCarrier said.

He noted that, although there has been no decrease in funding from the state, the allocation has remained flat. Accounting for inflation, McCarrier said this amounts to a decrease.

Following the meeting, Eckstein said he received documentation that AAA received a small increase in funding from the state that would have allowed the centers to remain on their current schedule.

McCarrier said in an interview he had not heard AAA was getting more money.

He noted the state is making a push for more in-home care and other programs besides senior centers. He also said that as state-funded programs the county is not supposed to put money into them.

Eckstein also said the county is expected to get more than $2 million in state gas impact fees this year. He said providing social services is an accepted use of these funds, and he would like to see some of that money be used for the centers.

McCarrier said the county just received word of the Act 13 allocation this week, so there has been no discussion on those funds. He noted updates to the county’s 911 radio system in the next few years could cost up to $10 million, and the county has been saving that money to help pay for the system.

Under the new contract, fundraising activities, which were required under the previous contract, will not be required. Additionally, AAA is planning increased programs at the centers.

McCarrier said the Chicora center had six people last Friday, and the Slippery Rock center had nine. He said it was not productive to have the full, five-days-per-week operating schedule for so few people.

Eckstein referenced an early AAA proposal, which would have cut every center but Cranberry Township and add a new center at the Clearview Mall. He said the new contract will lead to decreased attendance at the centers and lead AAA to cut them down to two centers.

“This plan is a plan for failure,” Eckstein said.

Human services director Joyce Ainsworth said the changed hours should be in effect July 1.

“That’s the plan,” Ainsworth said.

She said negotiations with Passavant to manage the Zelienople center are going well. If negotiations do not work, she said AAA can revisit its management of the center.

During public comment, Pearl Kocher of Center Township asked how it would be possible to have more programs when hours are being cut.

McCarrier said with no more required fundraising there would be more time for activities.

Kathy Kloock of Butler Township said seniors who attend the Butler center enjoy playing different card games at set hours. With the new hours, she said they will have to arrive early, start playing, break for lunch and then continue playing.

She said she believes this new plan will cause attendance at centers to decrease.

“It really, really needs to be revised,” Kloock said.