Commission overseeing Tulsa Animal Services recommends updated fee schedule, citing 2008 rates and rising costs

At a March 10 meeting of the commission that oversees Tulsa Animal Services, commissioners voted to recommend a package of fee increases and administrative changes to the City Council, saying the department’s fee schedule had not been updated since 2008.

The fee list, presented by Sherry Carrier, manager, and Colton Jones, operational manager, would raise impound and daily-care charges, add a one-time rabies observation fee, increase the sterilization deposit, and restructure commercial-animal-permit costs. "This fee list has not been altered since 02/2008," Sherry Carrier said during the presentation.

The commission chair, Commissioner Christine Coonsweiler, moved to accept the proposed fees; the motion was seconded and carried. Commissioners also approved routine minutes earlier in the meeting.

Why it matters: City staff said the proposals are intended to bring the shelter’s fee schedule in line with two decades of higher personnel and operating costs and to recover more of the consumables and outside-veterinary costs that the shelter has been absorbing. Colton Jones said rising employee costs, fuel and vaccinations were factors that “put us way behind the mark.” The commission will forward its recommendation to the City Council, which must approve any ordinance or official fee change.

What’s in the proposal: The packet presented to the…