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Livingston County OKs higher animal-shelter fees after discussion on no-shows, clinic capacity
Summary
The Livingston County Board of Commissioners approved a resolution to raise animal shelter fees, with staff saying increases cover rising medical and personnel costs. Commissioners questioned waiver authority, deposit rules for low-show-rate dog surgeries and a planned software migration.
The Livingston County Board of Commissioners voted 8-0, with one member absent, on Aug. 25 to approve Resolution 2025-08-113, authorizing changes to the county animal shelter’s fee schedule.
The fee increase, presented by shelter staff during the meeting, was described as intended to cover higher medical and employee costs rather than to generate revenue for the county general fund. Commissioners asked about fee waivers, appointment no-shows, clinic capacity and the shelter’s pending software change.
Shelter staff said fees had not been raised in five years and that rising costs for medical care and wages made the adjustment necessary. Staff described the clinic schedule as tightly constrained: dog surgery clinics are limited to five dogs per clinic because of cage space and are booked up about four months in advance. To reduce no-shows, staff proposed a deposit system: a $50 deposit would hold a dog surgery slot and would be deducted from the fee if the owner kept the appointment; no deposit would be required for most cat surgeries, which staff said show at higher rates. Staff said cats typically show at rates around 95 percent while dog no-shows are common.
Commissioner Helzerman asked whether the shelter could waive fees in hardship cases. Shelter staff said there is a gray area and that, in some cases, the shelter works directly with animal-control officers and owners to provide reduced or no-cost spay/neuter or rabies vaccinations to keep animals with their families and avoid intake and expensive medical care at the shelter.
Commissioners also pressed staff on technology and records. Shelter staff said a new animal-management system, PetPoint, is scheduled to go live Sept. 23; the conversion from older software (AC Plus) has caused data-transfer problems, and the county’s licensing system (referred to as MyDog) will not integrate directly with PetPoint. IT has planned an end-of-day conversion process so staff will not have to sell licenses twice indefinitely, staff said.
During discussion, staff mentioned example fee points in explaining the comparative cost to private clinics — noting a proposed $90 cat neuter at the shelter contrasted with privately published clinic fees that were higher after ancillary pre-exam charges. Commissioners and staff described the shelter’s outreach, capacity constraints and the importance of managing boarding and medical caseloads to keep costs down.
The commission approved the fee-change resolution by voice vote, 8-0 with 1 absent.
The resolution takes effect after administrative processing; the clerk’s office will publish the new schedule when finalized.
