Georgetown Edition | January 2022

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FACTORS FOR There are many factors when seniors decide where to live, including medical access, active lifestyle support and elder care facilities. This noncomprehensive map illustrates senior living options and amenities in Georgetown. LIVING INDEPENDENTLY

Heritage Oaks and Gardens at Verde Vista ranges from $299,000 to over $1 million. “Seniors are struggling with [housing], and they also need help with nancial support to aord home repairs,” Nelson said. “The city’s home repair program can help with things such as painting, carpentry work, plumbing and elec- trical work, and more. This program is accessible to any resident within Georgetown with limited resources.” City Council members are keeping the property tax rate as low as possible to reduce further nan- cial burdens on everyone, including seniors who want to age in place in their homes. Since 2017, the property tax rate has dropped $0.23 to $0.401 per $100 valuation, Communications Manager Keith Hutchinson said. That is the second-low- est property tax rate in the Austin-Round Rock metro, Hutchinson said. There are other burdens seniors are facing as they attempt to age in place associated with the cost of living, Hutchinson said. “Aging in place is a goal aected by several fac- tors including housing aordability and housing diversity as well as community support, trans- portation, engagement, tness, medical services and other support services,” Hutchinson said. “Thankfully the city has been seeing more town- home developments, which don’t take as much work to maintain, such as mowing and upkeep of a yard.” Senior caregiver shortage and affordability Nationwide, senior care facilities and services are facing labor shortages, aecting their ability to provide adequate care, Levack said. The United States is going to need 1.2 million new personal care attendants in the next 10 years, Levack said, with the average pay for the job at $10.14 an hour. Since job seekers are seeking higher pay to keep up with housing prices, the responsibility is falling on family members to provide their own unpaid care, Levack said. “The average cost of out-of-pocket private in-home care in 2020 was $55,000 a year in Texas, and many seniors don’t have long-term care insurance to help cover this,” Levack said. “A skilled nursing service would cost close to $77,000 in 2020 in Texas.” The Georgetown Health Foundation and St. David’s Foundation are funding the nonprot A Gift of Time’s project to build a new adult day health center in Georgetown, Levack said. These facilities are places where seniors experiencing dementia can have cognitive stimulation, connec- tion, health support and two community meals a day. This strategy allows seniors to remain in their homes. AGE of Central Texas currently runs two adult day health centers in Central Texas. One of the two is located in Round Rock, which is the only adult day health center run by a nonprot in Wil- liamson County. “The reason why we aren’t seeing many of

SUN CITY

SUN CITY BLVD.

195

DEL WEBB BLVD.

Senior communities Assisted living In-home care Hospital

LAKE GEORGETOWN

130 TOLL

LAKEWAY DR.

1 Grand Living at Georgetown 2 Heritage Oaks Active Adult Community 3 Mariposa Apartment Homes at River Bend 4 Merritt Heritage Senior Village 5 NorthStar Georgetown Active 55+ 6 San Gabriel Senior Village 7 Sun City 8 The Delaney at Georgetown Village 9 The Oaks Gracious Retirement Living 10 The Reserve at Georgetown 11 The Wesleyan Independent Living West 12 Brookdale Senior Living 13 Georgetown Living Home Health 14 Isabel’s Place Personal Care Home 15 Park Place Retirement Home 16 Platinum Resort Assisted Living & Memory Care 17 Sedro Trail Assisted Living 18 Tin House Assisted Living and Memory Care 19 Truewood by Merrill 20 Rocky Hollow Lake House

RIVERY BLVD.

WOLF RANCH PKWY.

AUSTIN AVE.

1460

MAP NOT TO SCALE N

SOURCE: COMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER

preserving existing housing options in order to maintain aordability, Nelson said. Homeowners are getting priced out of their homes, especially those who live in areas with rapid value increases, according to city docu- ments. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development denes an aordable hous- ing option as a unit that costs less than 30 percent of an individual’s monthly income. About 67% of senior home renters and 24% of senior home- owners are paying 30% or more of their income on housing, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The city enacted a policy to ensure developers making rezoning requests include a senior com- ponent to their housing development in exchange for tax credits, Nelson said. About 78% of hous- ing options in Georgetown consist of single-fam- ily homes, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, and the price for a single-family home in George- town retirement neighborhoods such as Sun City,

21 Comfort Keepers 22 Visiting Angels 23 St. David’s Georgetown Hospital

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“Adults who are trying to age in place need suf- cient care as they struggle with functional or cognitive decline, needing in-home care, social engagement and other struggles brought on by the pandemic,” Levack said. Housing diversity and affordability The city of Georgetown is working to increase housing options and aordability for all people no matter their income level and age, but espe- cially for seniors, Planning Director Soa Nel- son said. One strategy the city is working on is

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