The Leader-Herald/Bill Trojan
Wally Truesdell, left, in green, leads a discussion during the Writer’s Circle meeting at the Senior Citizens Service Center of Gloversville & Fulton County on Friday.

Senior citizens who rely on Social Security to help them make ends meet may find that more challenging with no cost-of-living adjustment being figured into the checks next year. While there has been talk of sending one-time $250 payments to seniors to help make up for the gap, some feel that will not do enough. Steve Goldberg, the director of the Fort Plain Senior Center, said for many seniors, the $250 payment would just be “a drop in the bucket” toward making up for the lack of a COLA to Social Security. “It is a terrible situation,” he said. In mid-October, the federal government announced there would be no cost-of-living increase for more than 50 million Social Security recipients next year, the first year without a raise since automatic adjustments were adopted in 1975. By law, cost-of-living adjustments are pegged to inflation, which is negative this year because of lower energy costs. Because of the spike in energy costs in 2008, Social Security payments increased by 5.