EL DORADO -- Union County taxpayers will see a voluntary contribution option on every tax statement in 2020.
Going forward, all Union County residents with real or personal property will have the option to contribute $10 to help fund animal population control services. Taxpayers also have the option to contribute more or less than $10 if they choose.
"I like a tax you don't have to pay," District 9 Justice of the Peace Benny Vestal said.
Union County Tax Collector Karen Scott said it will cost between $10,000 and $12,000 to establish the contribution program. County Judge Mike Loftin proposed that those expenses come out of the first year's contributions.
"When this comes in, we'll see what we bring in in a year, and we'll take out [the establishment costs]," Loftin said.
For the first year, money contributed will be stored in a new "Animal Population Control Fund." Once the first year has passed and any bills associated with establishing the program paid, the county will begin contributing funds to assist Union County pet owners in getting their pets spayed and/or neutered.
"It'll be a voucher system once we figure out what it's going to be in a year's time; there won't be anything done until 2020," Loftin said.
The ordinance establishing the voluntary contributions does not include a sunset clause, so it will appear on Union County residents' tax statements indefinitely.
Once the first year has passed, funds collected through the voluntary contributions will be dispersed to the Union County Animal Protection Society in the form of low-cost spay and neuter vouchers. Pet owners will be able to get the vouchers from the Union County Animal Protection Society when they adopt a pet or if they need to have a pet spayed or neutered.
The vouchers will probably not cover the full cost of a spay or neuter procedure. Loftin could not estimate how many vouchers they may produce or how much the vouchers would reduce the price of a spay and neuter until the first year's funds have been collected.
"We'll give the vouchers to the Union County Animal Protection Society and they will give them to whoever needs a spay or neuter. It won't pay completely for that operation, but it will pay a part of it -- $50 or $75," Loftin explained. "They will give that voucher to the vet, and the vet will bill the county once a month for all the vouchers."
Similar funds in other counties have fared well. Faulkner County raises about $120,000 per year from their fund, per Faulkner County Quorum Court member Tyler Pearson. The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported in 2016 that a voluntary animal population control fund in Saline County had raised $300,000 in its first four years.
"My goal is to see every county in Arkansas do the same thing," said Phena Loftin, who worked with county officials including her husband, Mike Loftin, Karen Scott and County Assessor Vicki Deaton to develop the contribution program. "It's a step. Animals are overpopulating so quickly we can't keep up with it, so we encourage everyone to give what they can."
Metro on 11/28/2019