SAN JOSE — Santa Clara County officials are questioning why a nonprofit contracted to distribute state and federal funding to programs that feed the elderly spent more than $3.5 million earmarked for senior meals on other things since 2010.

Supervisor Joe Simitian has been calling for the nonprofit, Sourcewise, to reveal what the money is being used for. But, he said, it’s been a “struggle,” with “Sourcewise stonewalling every inquiry.”

“Federal funds that are allocated for meals for seniors are not being used to provide meals for seniors,” Simitian said. “And if they’re not being used for meals for seniors, we need to know why not. Are you truly spending the money on something that’s more essential than daily nutrition for seniors?”

Sourcewise does not dispute that it has diverted millions of dollars from nutrition programs. CEO Steve Schmoll said for at least the past 15 to 20 years, the nonprofit has transferred about 30 percent of federal nutrition funds to provide other needs for the elderly. And that, by state law, is perfectly legal.

“Yes, there’s an unmet need for senior nutrition,” Schmoll said. “There’s also an unmet need for housing, for home support services, for legal assistance, for transportation. You can’t divorce one need and say because that’s what you provide it’s the most important.”

He said Sourcewise had an outside consultant conduct a telephone survey of county residents age 60 and older, and nutrition didn’t place in the top priorities. In its draft four-year service plan that is currently under review, Sourcewise lists access to services, in-home caregiver support and legal assistance as top concerns.

He said those are the sort of things that the nutrition money was used for.

“These transfers were all approved and legitimate,” Schmoll said, “but Mr. Simitian refused to accept that fact.”

Simitian said he understands there are other needs, but there needs to be more communication.

“There’s never enough money to do all the good work that needs to be done,” Simitian said, “but we need to be very thoughtful about the trade-offs we make.”

County Executive Jeff Smith agreed with Simitian that Sourcewise’s response has not been satisfactory.

“Nobody is saying they’re doing something illegal or immoral or unimportant,” he said. “There just should be more coordination on where it goes and why it goes there and what impact that has on nutrition programs.”

Smith said that when Sourcewise transfers money away from senior nutrition, the county must spend more on that growing need. Last year, the county spent $4.2 million on senior nutrition, and this week agreed to bolster that by an additional $116,000.

While Sourcewise’s use of the meal money for other needs is legal, a 2014 Santa Clara County audit found that Sourcewise transferred far more senior nutrition funds to other needs than other county aging agencies. Only five of the 33 across the state transferred more than $100,000 in such a manner in the 2012-13 fiscal year, the most recent figures available.

Sourcewise transferred $595,000 during that fiscal year — about a third of the total reductions to meal service funding statewide.

Most counties distribute the meal funds themselves as “Area Agencies on Aging.” But Santa Clara County in 1974 outsourced that role to the Committee on Aging — now known as Sourcewise — apparently in the interest of saving the county the added staff and money required to run such an operation. But that leaves the county with less control over the private nonprofit than it would have over its own department.

It’s not just the county and auditor that have had trouble getting Sourcewise to communicate. The Silicon Valley Council of Nonprofits sent a letter to the county last August expressing dismay to hear Sourcewise had not been providing more in-depth information, saying it “demonstrates a veil of secrecy that is disheartening for our community.”

And while Simitian has been leading the push for more information, colleagues on the board share his concerns.

Dave Cortese, president of the board, is troubled by Sourcewise’s “elusive and evasive responses.”

“We’re looking for the right tool in the toolbox to fix this,” Cortese said, “and when we find the tool, there will be changes in this relationship.”

Roger Mialocq, contract management audit manager for Harvey M. Rose and associates, said auditors saw the need for nutrition funds firsthand when they visited meal facilities in 2014.

“There weren’t enough meals available, and some people were turned away,” Mialocq said. “And at some sites, the quality of the food was substandard.”

He said a solution for supervisors would be to revisit the county decision in 1974 that put Sourcewise in charge of the nutrition programs.

“Let’s stop dancing around,” he said. “They have the authority to rescind that decision. And if they advised the state they intend to take that action, they will start getting answers.”

Contact Eric Kurhi at 408-920-5852. Follow him at Twitter.com/erickurhi.