FAYETTEVILLE -- Residents and small cities that use Washington County's animal shelter will pay a significantly higher fee per animal, city and county officials say.
Several cities have approved contracts to use the shelter, raising the fee per animal from $85 to $150, contracts show.
Those fees are exceptionally high and hurt residents who may not be able to afford $150 and other fees to claim their animal, said Washington County Justice of the Peace Robert Dennis, R-Farmington.
The contracts, provided by County Attorney Brian Lester, show the county asked cities to pay $150 per animal taken to the shelter, plus $10 a day to shelter the animal. If an animal is unclaimed after three days, the city pays the $150, the $10 for each of three days and then the animal belongs to the county. If the animal's owner claims it, the owner pays the costs.
The fees will hurt lower-income people and poorer cities, Dennis said. "You're making the poorest pay the most."
The fee increase could cause a chain reaction of negative consequences, said Scott Harper, an animal advocate who is an online administrator for "Farmington, AR Lost & Found Pets," a social media group. Residents who can't afford to get their animals from the shelter may abandon them and leave the cost to the cities, he said. The cities then would scale back on taking animals to the shelter, similar to what West Fork has done. After that, the number of stray animals will increase, along with public safety issues, he said.
Several justices of the peace, however, have questioned the high cost of running the animal shelter during budget discussions.
The shelter's 2017 budget is about $699,000. Justice of the Peace Tom Lundstrum, a Republican representing the northwestern part of the county, said if law enforcement is included the shelter costs about $900,000 a year. Animal control is handled by the Washington County Sheriff's Office and comes out of that department's budget.
The county is facing a shortfall of about $5 million between expenditures and projected revenue, county records show. Earlier this month, justices of the peace discussed ways to trim the shortfall, including cuts to services and raising the property millage rate.
The county judge, not the Quorum Court, instituted the fee increases.
County Judge Joseph Wood is looking at ways to make the shelter more efficient, secure more grants or donations and lower the county's overall costs to operate the shelter, said Carl Gales, chief of staff for the county judge. Wood is over the animal shelter.
No budget cuts for the shelter are planned right now, Gales said.
City leaders say any cuts to the animal shelter will hurt their communities.
Members of the county's animal advisory board said they did not know about the fee increase and had not talked with Wood or his staff about changes at the shelter.
Gales said administrators analyzed the budget and realized the amount cities paid to use the county shelter didn't cover costs.
Information on how many animals come from cities and how much money is expected to be generated from the increased fee were not available by Friday afternoon.
The number of animals going to the shelter vary depending on the city.
Farmington, for example, takes about 12 animals per month to the shelter, while West Fork takes two or three per month. Farmington has approved the contract, but West Fork had not received one as of Thursday.
Prairie Grove, which approved the county's contract Monday, doesn't use the shelter but approved the contract in case of emergency, Mayor Sonny Hudson said.
Elm Springs only uses the shelter about six times per year, paying roughly $500, Mayor Harold Douthit said. The city has agreed to the new fee, he said.
That fee is hefty for some cities, city leaders said.
West Fork pays about $2,000 a year under the old contract after city officials decided not to take all stray animals to the shelter, said Kristie Drymon, finance director and treasurer. A few years ago, West Fork was paying $10,000 a year to the county and couldn't afford it, she said. The city doesn't pick up an animal just because it is loose, she said.
Some cities, including Farmington, spend time trying to find owners before sending animals to the shelter, Mayor Ernie Penn said. Finding the owners saves the city and the owners money, he said.
The fee increase should be reconsidered, Harper said. Even nonprofit organizations that help people pay to claim their animals will be affected, he said.
"The county judge is just looking at numbers," Harper said. "They are looking at short-term financial choices here to make the budget look good, but in the long term, long range, I think this will bring more negative impact and feedback from residents."
NW News on 05/21/2017