About 35 senior citizens gathered at Diamond Park Tuesday to protest proposed cuts to Butler County’s senior centers.

Seniors held signs with sayings such as “Seniors aren’t second-class citizens” and “Don’t discriminate against seniors.” Passing vehicles regularly honked their horns in support of the demonstration.

Connie Collier, who goes to the Chicora center, was one of the organizers. She said she and other seniors are passionate about the centers they go to.

“It’s part of our lives,” Collier said.

County commissioners today will vote on a new contract to manage the senior centers.

The terms of the contract follow a recommendation made in May by the Area Agency on Aging’s advisory board. The recommendation reduces hours at centers and cuts down on the days of operations at most of the centers.

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

However, the county could provide meals at West Sunbury and Zelienople while the West Sunbury Presbyterian Church would operate the one center. And it’s possible a cooperative agreement could be made with the Passavant Community Senior Living Community to operate the Zelienople center.

The contract runs from July 1 to June 30, 2016, and the total amount would be $305,524, nearly $94,000 less than the current contract.

Carol McNally, who goes to the Chicora center, said she is not in favor of the cuts, and said she was upset by the fundraising that seniors did for the centers. In years past, she said the fundraising was used for trips, but recently she said it has been for center operations costs.

“Before, we did things like make relish, because we wanted to,” McNally said.

Joan Garing, who attends the Chicora center, teaches a painting class there. She is concerned about classes like hers not being able to take place if hours are cut.

“If the cuts happen, there’s not time to have a painting class,” Garing said.

Pearl Kocher, who uses the Butler senior center, goes there every day. Although Butler is proposed to remain open five days a week, the hours will be modified.

“They told us we were going to be open five days a week, but they forgot to tell us that they are cutting our hours,” Kocher said.

Kathy Kloock, who goes to the Butler center, said she felt the county had enough money to keep the centers operating as is.

“The money is there,” Kloock said.

Kloock teaches crafts at the center, and said she is concerned that modified hours will not leave enough time for some programs.

“It will make a big difference,” Kloock said.

County Commissioner Jim Eckstein, who has spoken out against the proposed cuts, said the county is expected to get more than $2.1 million in Act 13 impact fee and legacy fee money on July 1. One of the places the money can go to is social services. He said he would like to see that money go toward the centers as a compromise to keep the centers operating on their current schedule.

In an interview, human services director Joyce Ainsworth said fundraising for the senior centers is a requirement by the management company under the current contract. If the new contract is approved, fundraising no longer will be required.

Ainsworth said there is money to keep the centers going as is, but she said too much of the budget is going toward senior centers and there are other areas of concern that need to be addressed in the human services budget, such as safety and in-home programs. She said the state is making a push for increased safety and in-home programs.

Additionally, although hours could be decreased, she said AAA is trying to add more programs.