What happens in Kirkland might not stay in Kirkland when it comes to the cost of King County Regional Animal Services.
County officials told the Kent City Council at a Oct. 4 workshop that the city’s costs could go up if the city of Kirkland drops out of the Regional Animal Services program.
Twenty-five cities contract with the county to provide animal control officers, sheltering and licensing services. The three-year contract expires at the end of 2017. County officials want to know in December if cities plan to stay with the program.
So far, Kirkland appears to be the only city considering finding services elsewhere. Kirkland might hire its own animal control officers and use the PAWS shelter in Lynnwood.
“We’ve been working hard to keep them in the model,” said Norm Alberg, county director of Records and Licensing Services Division that oversees animal services, to the council. “We want them. Bottom line, it affects your jurisdiction to about an additional $30,000 (per year) and $270,000 across the entire program.”
Kent will pay an estimated $358,000 to the county in 2016 and an estimated $379,000 in 2018. Without Kirkland, the 2018 cost could jump to about $412,000, said Sean Bouffiou, county deputy director of Records and Licensing Services Division.
The county charges cities based 80 percent on their use of control, shelter and licensing services and 20 percent on their population. Kent’s total cost for 2018 is about $1.2 million, but the city’s costs are reduced based on how many pet licenses are sold in Kent. The county covers the rest of the costs out of its general fund.
The council gave approval last week to city staff for a non-binding agreement with the county for the new five-year contract. The council has until June for final contract approval.
King County changed the new contract to a five-year extension for 2018-22. The current contract is a two-year extension of the previous three-year contract.
The Regional Animal Services program serves about one million people and 500,000 animals, according to county staff. Staff divides the county into three districts (north, east and south) with one animal control officer assigned to each area. Kent averages about 1,200 calls per year and is in the south district with Black Diamond, Covington, Enumclaw, Maple Valley, SeaTac and Tukwila.
The cities of Auburn, Federal Way, Des Moines, Burien and Renton each run their own animal services programs.
The city of Kent’s Finance Department oversees the inter-local agreement with the county. The city has contracted with the county for animal services since 2010. The county previously paid for all costs. Kent officials have looked at the city running its own program but decided the costs were too high with no nearby shelter.
The county’s animal shelter is in Kent and had about 5,000 intakes in 2015, with 58 percent of those strays. The shelter had an all-time low euthanasia rate of 12 percent in 2015, according to county documents. The rate soared to 48 percent in 2003 before the county several years ago took numerous steps, including an emphasis on pet adoptions, to reduce the rate.
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