SUNDERLAND — The South County Senior’s governing document has finally received a long-overdue review.

Deerfield, Sunderland and Whately created their South County Senior Center intermunicipal agreement in 2009, with the intention of reviewing it every 10 years. That review began in 2019, but other priorities — and a pandemic — shelved the plans until 2024.

Now, 16 years later, the first major revisions to the document are coming before the towns’ Selectboards, as the Board of Oversight is pitching an expanded board and a new, more equitable funding formula based on data.

“It seemed like a good time,” Board of Oversight Chair and Whately Selectboard member Joyce Palmer-Fortune said. “There was willingness on both sides to get more input and learn about how the budget works.”

The revised document expands the Board of Oversight by adding a non-voting member appointed by each town’s Selectboard and also provides flexibility by allowing voting members to either be a Selectboard member or a designee.

“We’re trying to find some voices and get people interested,” added Deerfield Selectboard Chair Trevor McDaniel. “I’m hoping it will be a good change.”

The expanded board size also comes at a time when the South County Senior Center’s membership continues to increase. Palmer-Fortune credited Director Jennifer Ferrara’s work over the last few years to revitalize the center and start more programs.

The second major change is a shift to the Senior Center’s funding formula based on the demographics of each of the three towns. Currently, Deerfield is responsible for 50% of costs, while Whately and Sunderland each pay 25%.

Under the proposed change, Deerfield would pay 54.1%, Sunderland would be assessed 27.9% of costs and Whately would be responsible for 18%. These new percentages, according to Palmer-Fortune and McDaniel, were based on the 2020 census data for the three towns.

Deerfield, Sunderland and Whately have senior populations (defined as 60 years old or older in this case) of 1,639, 844 and 544, respectively.

“I think updating that ratio every 10 years is going to be sufficient to keep the payments fair among the three towns,” Palmer-Fortune said.

“It seems pretty fair,” McDaniel added. “And it can be adjusted every so often by looking at the census numbers.”

The revised intermunicipal agreement will come before each of the three Selectboards for their consideration.

Chris Larabee can be reached at clarabee@recorder.com.