County council voted 5-0 Dec. 1, to spend more than $130,000 on grants to 80 county nonprofit agencies. The county has budgeted more than $143,000 in the account for fiscal year 2010; the remaining $13,000 will be held back for emergency grants. The average grant was around $1,500.

Over the years, the program has not been cut back, reaching a high of $156,000 last fiscal year. But most line items were trimmed 8 percent in the current budget.

The county was able to fund all requests and even some that came in after the deadline, said Susan Webb, director of finance. “Agencies got at least what they got last year,” she said.

She said nonprofit human services agencies must be located in Sussex County or serve people in Sussex.

Recently, emphasis has been placed on agencies that benefit senior citizens. Webb takes the requests and makes recommendations to County Administrator David Baker, who in turn presents the list to council.

The county has also budgeted $150,000 for councilmanic grants, down from $305,000 the previous fiscal year. Each council member has $30,000 in grants to award to nonprofit organizations.

Human services grants are actually a small part of the county’s $7.4 million grants-in-aid program. Overall, more than $2.5 million has been set aside for fire companies; $1.6 million for additional state police officers in the county; more than $600,000 for local libraries; and $600,000 for dog control.

The total grants-in-aid program was trimmed by $2.5 million compared to fiscal year 2009 and has dropped more than $13 million since fiscal year 2007.

Although most agencies were hit with a reduction in what they asked for, some were hit harder than others. The seven independent senior centers asked for more than $51,000 and got $35,000.

The largest grant – $6,000 to Meals on Wheels of Lewes and Rehoboth – was $4,000 less than what was requested.

Kathy Keuski, director of Meals on Wheels, said $6,000 is what the agency has received the past few years. “But we usually ask for a little more,” she said, especially with the drain on the agency’s budget from the growing demand for meals. “We are appreciative of anything we receive. We call our accounts receivable accounts beg able,” she said.

About 200 people receive two meals a day with frozen meals for the weekend.

The number represents an increase of about 15 percent in the last two months. Keuski said 42 percent of the cost of the food is covered by state and federal grants, with the agency making up 58 percent of funding from donations, other grants and churches.

She said it costs about $50 a week for each senior citizen on the meal route.

One of the major costs, transportation, is covered by an army of volunteers who deliver meals each day. All meals are cooked at Harbor Health Care in Lewes.