City officials recently got their first hard look at the costs of a local proposal to answer the community’s long-term animal shelter needs after the current King County animal services contract expires in 2012.
And they say the numbers pencil out.
“We feel we are at a point now where they have made some assumptions that we think are pretty conservative,” Brenda Heineman, human resources director for the City of Auburn, said of Auburn Valley Humane Society’s proposal at a recent meeting of the Municipal Services Committee. “We could form a partnership with AVHS to really make this work for the City of Auburn in a way that would be much more economical and provide much better service than we are getting now from King County.
“Quite frankly,” Heineman added, “there aren’t that many options out there at this point.”
A group of veterinarians and residents recently formed the nonprofit AVHS, hoping to establish a partnership with the City. To form a partnership, the City and AVHS will have to negotiate a contract.
AVHS would shelter the animals, and the City would handle animal control.
The proposal is making the rounds of the City’s various subcommittees and should land in the lap of the full City Council for a vote in the coming weeks.
Below is a quick rundown of what AVHS is asking the City to do:
• Make capital improvements to the city-owned building at 4910 A St. SE necessary to turn it into an animal shelter. The total one-time remodel cost is estimated to be $564,416. The City would lease the building indefinitely to AVHS at $1 a year. Auburn Valley Human Society would raise the money to remodel the interior, using animal licensing fees, donations and grants.
The total operating costs for 2013 are estimated to be $454,871. That number assumes licensing fees will cover 80 percent of operating costs and donations cover 20 percent. The operating costs for 2013 include $80,196 in salary and benefits for an animal control officer and $72,500 for a staff coordinator and canvasser. When the City signed the contract with King County, it gave up its designated animal control officer.
Heineman laid out some of the benefits:
• The City maintains ownership of the building and capital improvements for future use or sale.
• The City gains control and receives personalized service of a designated animal control officer, providing a much higher level of care to the community.
• The City gains community ownership of the program
• The City realizes a substantial savings in annualized costs in comparison to the current county contract. A portion of the savings would be invested in onetime capital improvement and animal control equipment charges, but both would be City assets.
According to AVHS, it would provide all removable furnishings, including kennels, cat condos, furniture, computers and appliances. The goal is to have the facility fully operational by January 2013. Funding will come from private and corporate donations. The first fundraising drive will ask people and corporations to buy a kennel or cat condo and place their name on it. This will be part of a mailing and e-mail campaign in the city of Auburn. A neighboring Humane Society has already donated $20,000 worth of cat condos.
AVHS will operate a booth at Petpalooza next Saturday and hold a black tie event this fall.
It anticipates raising about $80,000 in 2011, $90,000 in 2012 and $100,000 for 2013.
Councilman John Partridge said the City could save an estimated half-million dollars over what it would have paid King County adding that between the years 2013 and 2015.
Among the issues remaining to be settled in negotiations are the following: Who pays the shortfall or reaps the benefits if donations fall short, or licensing revenue exceeds 80 or even 100 percent? Which organization pays for building maintenance costs?
