COEUR d'ALENE - The wheels might be coming off mobile meal-delivery programs in Kootenai County.

According to a letter from the Kootenai County commissioners dated Aug. 31 to the county's senior centers, funding that supports Meals on Wheels programs is about to end.

"Annual community support to Senior Centers in Kootenai County has been cut from the proposed budget for fiscal year 2011-2012," says the letter, which also invites the centers to the county's final public hearing on its budget Tuesday at 6 p.m. "We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and urge you to request support from the city you are located in. The cities do not have the same unfunded mandates that the state imposes on the county."

Alison McArthur, executive director of the Post Falls Senior center, was livid Friday afternoon. Not only would the cut in funding immediately hurt some of the citizens who need help most, she said, but the longer-term impact could backfire on the county.

"If you take these people we help... some of these people will eventually show up on the indigent roles and the county will spend much more money paying their (medical) bills," McArthur said Friday. "One of our worries is that shut-ins won't be able to pay for prescriptions, which will lead to their becoming indigent."

McArthur said that according to the Area Agency on Aging, 20,750 home-delivered meals were distributed throughout Kootenai County. This year alone, she said, her center has served more than 5,000 meals.

McArthur said Post Falls Senior Center last received $2,500 from the county in February. Coeur d'Alene's facility, Lake City Center, received $2,400, said Manager Rick Currie. He agreed the cut would be hard to overcome.

"In the big picture, we're operating on our reserves and we have been for 18 months," said Currie, whose center serves 1,600 meals a month to shut-ins. "The sad part of it is that this is hitting the ones who can absolutely afford it the least."

Currie explained that Lake City Center requests a $4 donation for each meal to shut-ins, who must meet strict qualification guidelines.

"These people are extremely proud," he said. "If they can't afford the $4, they tell us, 'No, I don't want the meal if I can't pay for it."

Currie said the center delivers them anyway.

Kootenai County Commissioner Dan Green said Friday that on a personal level, he's sympathetic to the need. But he also said he's required to represent the entire county, with funding prioritized toward mandated services.

"In my opinion, if something is not gender specific or age specific and it supports everybody, I'll spend the tax dollars," he said. But he acknowledged: "This is really a tough one. We're trying to draw that line, mandated vs. non-mandated."

As a county commissioner before he became a senior center director, Currie understands Green's dilemma. In fact, he's been there before.

"A few years ago Frank Henderson really hammered us on this," Currie said of the state legislator and Post Falls Senior Center board member. "We looked at it ... and we found the money."

But Currie also said he wasn't blindsided by the commissioners' letter Friday. At a meeting recently with other managers of area senior centers, Currie issued a warning.

"I said, 'I can see what's happening in the county and ... whatever you got last year, you probably shouldn't expect to get this year,'" he recalled saying.

The cities of Post Falls and Coeur d'Alene both assist their centers in a variety of ways, like rent and maintenance help. Other subsidies from the state or federal government also help. But McArthur and Currie believe the county should pitch in.

Green said it's conceivable the county will reconsider funding the senior centers Tuesday night, but that to do so, it would likely need to cut somewhere else to make up the difference.

"As I understand it, one thing we cannot do is raise the budget," he said.

Then is the funding cut a done deal?

"Pretty darn close," Green said.