King County officials released a proposal Thursday for a new animal control and sheltering service starting July 1 that gives cities the option of buying into a regional model operated by the county or each city could leave the county program to run its own animal services department.
The cost to Kent would be an estimated $265,000 per year out of its general fund, according to county officials.
“The county would continue to provide services to everyone in the county under a model where the cities pay us to do that,” said Carrie Cihak, director of strategic initiatives for King County Executive Dow Constantine, at a media conference Thursday at the Kent Shelter. “We strongly believe we can provide the services more cost efficiently and better services at a regional level (than if each city ran its own program).”
The county currently pays for and operates animal control and sheltering services (with shelters in Kent and Bellevue) for 32 cities at a cost of about $5.6 million per year. Pet-licensing fees pay for about 60 percent of the costs, which has left the county paying about $2 million per year out of its general fund to operate the program.
The County Council directed staff to end the existing animal service contracts with cities effective July 1 so that cities pay most of the costs to provide the local service rather than the county. The cities recently received the contract termination letters from the county.
Under the proposed “Regional Animal Services of King County,” the cities would need to come up with an estimated total of $1.1 million to $1.9 million per year out of their combined general funds to pay for the new program that would offer sheltering, control and licensing services.
County officials announced that the Kent Shelter would remain open to house animals under the regional model. The county would close its smaller shelter in Bellevue at the end of June and move two staff members to Kent. The county also would keep the Kent Shelter open without a regional model in order to serve the unincorporated areas.
A joint cities-county work group came up with the new regional model after three months of meetings. Representatives from the county and the cities of Kent, Shoreline, Lake Forest Park, Redmond, Bellevue, Sammamish, SeaTac and Tukwila served on the work group.
Kent city staff plans to bring three options to the City Council on April 20. Staff will work with Council President Jamie Perry on whether to bring the options forward at the Council’s Operations Committee or at a Council workshop, said Jeff Watling, city parks director who served on the joint cities-county work group about animal services.
The three options for the city of Kent include:
• Join the proposed regional model by the county. City officials must let the county know by April 30 if they have an initial interest in contracting with the county.
• Start a subregional model for animal sheltering and control with the cities of Auburn, Covington, Tukwila, Burien and SeaTac.
• Run its own animal services program.
“We’re still studying all of the options,” Watling said in a phone interview Thursday about which option staff might recommend to the Council. Watling said he did not yet know the costs of a subregional program or a city-run program.
Watling said the sheltering options could be limited under either a subregional plan or a city-operated program because the Kent Shelter would be part of the county operation and no private shelters exist in South King County. All of the options are going to cost the city money.
“The service represents a significant funding reality for us,” Watling said.
The county plans to pay transitional money to each city that signs up for the initial 2 1/2-year contract to help cushion the financial impact. Cities would be required to make their first payment to the county in January 2011 for services from July to December 2010. Payments for 2011 would be due in April and October.
Watling said estimated costs of the three options would be part of the presentation April 20 to the City Council.
The proposed regional plan would divide the county into four districts with an animal control officer assigned to each district five days a week. Cities could chose to pay for additional officers if they want enhanced service.
Sgt. John Diel, who works at the Kent Shelter and is president of the King County Animal Control Officer’s Guild, said in an interview after the media conference that the officers support the regional model but have concerns about the district plan of one officer in each district just five days per week.
“We hope the cities and county provide a level of resources we need for service levels in the field and for care in the shelter,” Diel said. “Ideally, cities would look at enhanced service to increase the level of service. I am concerned that there might not be enough resources for animal welfare and control.”
Diel said current staffing levels provide anywhere from two to five officers out in the field countywide and five officers at the shelter, depending on the day and the schedule of officers.
The Federal Way City Council voted in February to leave the county program and create an animal control unit within its police department. Federal Way will contract for sheltering with The Humane Society of Tacoma and Pierce County.
County officials say revenues from pet licenses and other supporting fees have fallen about $2 million short per year of the $5 million cost of providing animal care and control. With a projected budget shortfall of $56 million in 2010, the county wants to spend less on animal control and sheltering to focus on its other services and programs.
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