CUMBERLAND — Local officials are worried that critical funding that supports programming for Allegany County senior residents could be in jeopardy.

If about $77,000 in “hold-harmless” funding is cut, Human Resources Development Commission’s Executive Director Courtney Thomas said a worse-case scenario could involve the closure of one of the four HRDC-operated senior centers in Cumberland, Frostburg, Lonaconing and Westernport.

“It’s a possibility, although we will make that our absolute last resort,” Thomas said Friday, one day after meeting with all four members of the District 1 legislative delegation in Annapolis about the issue. “Every year, they talk about eliminating this piece from the budget.”

The funding is distributed to senior center programming in Allegany, Washington and Queen Anne’s counties and Baltimore City and is at least equal to the amount of federal Older Americans Act monies they received prior to a funding formula update a decade ago.

Thomas said she is “somewhat confident” the funding would be included for fiscal 2011, which begins July 1. If not, “we would have to look at some consolidation of senior services.”

“We’d still provide meals” both to home-bound seniors and congregate meals at the senior centers, she said. “We’d have to look at the activities we offer and the programming. We feel it’s vitally important to have active senior centers in all the communities.”

Thomas said the four senior centers used 23 full-time and part-time staff to serve 2,575 individual seniors last year. Programs include meals at the senior centers and those home-delivered, education on core senior issues, help in enrolling in Medicare Part B, exercise and wellness initiative, and programs for prevention of elder abuse, neglect and exploitation.

A total of 101,819 meals were provided in 2009, Thomas said.

Thomas said the cut, if implemented, “would significantly decrease the amount of services we’d be able to provide.”

Allegany County Commissioner Dale Lewis, who sits on the HRDC board of directors, said there had not been any discussion on the issue but “that would be one program I would never vote to cut.

“It just means too much to these people,” said Lewis, of Lonaconing. “It was set up and designed (so) older people would have a place to go and it doesn’t cost them an arm and a leg.”

Sen. George Edwards echoed Lewis’ sentiments. He said the delegation has to be alert to any efforts to cut the funding.

“If it’s cut ... we can’t add it anywhere” in the governor’s proposed budget, Edwards said. “All we can do is cut the budget. If it’s budgeted in there at the same amount, then we need to work hard to keep it in there.”

Edwards said lawmakers have the option of restoring that level of funding only if they cut the same amount from somewhere else. If Gov. Martin O’Malley approves of the recommendation, he could submit a supplemental budget to reflect those changes.

Thomas said the number of seniors patronizing the new HRDC headquarters at 125 Virginia Ave., which opened in November, is “growing rapidly.”

“In difficult budget times, agencies like HRDC always see new clients,” Thomas said, “because there’s more of a need than ever.”

Contact Kevin Spradlin at kspradlin@times-news.com.