County supervisors press city of Madera on animal services cost-sharing; fee study under way

Madera County supervisors raised concerns June 9 about the countyanimal services budget and whether partner cities pay their fair share of costs for intake, medical care and euthanasia.

Amy Toller, director of Animal Services, told the board the department faces constrained service levels and that the county currently bears the bulk of high-cost medical and euthanasia cases from the city of Madera. When asked about the share the city pays, Toller said the city contributes about $180,000 annually while city-origin animals account for roughly 40% of intakes, and she told supervisors the county is "unfortunately burdened with the cost of their euthanasia, their intake, their medic- medical cases." Supervisor Rogers said the disparity was large enough that it "could be solved right then and there" if the city paid a proportionate share.

The budget book lists recommended expenditures for Animal Services at $2,166,006.51 and shows 20 allocated positions (two unfunded). When asked about the countytotal budget, Toller also said, in response to an on-the-spot question, "It's just under $22,000,000"; the CAO's office later clarified that the departmental recommended expenditures in the published budget are $2,166,006.51 and that the county is completing a fee study to confirm cost drivers and city/county allocations.

Fee study and next steps

Jamie Becks of Community and Economic Development said the county is working with consultant NBS and expects the fee study to come back to the board "fall or winter of this year" for adoption. Joel Begay of the CAOoffice said staff would also review a 2018 animal-shelter study and apply its concepts to update local figures rather than automatically contracting for a full new analysis.

Supervisors asked administration to prioritize the fee study findings that would identify the true cost per city animal and potential adjustments to intergovernmental agreements. Staff noted existing MOUs include a six-month termination clause for the county's contract to provide shelter services to the city of Madera; supervisors flagged that as a tool to negotiate cost-sharing if discussions do not yield an acceptable result.

What officials said (selected quotes)

Amy Toller, Animal Services director: "When they're bringing in, 40% of the animals to our facility, but we're at a 180,000 a year. It's it's it's not equal."

Supervisor Rogers: "Our $750,000 deficit before we dip into our fund balance, that could be solved right then and there, unless there's something else I'm missing from the city paying their fair share of animal services. So, that's something I want to... admin to take a deep dive and try to figure that out."

Operational context

Staff said program reductions already will limit services such as low-cost spay-and-neuter vouchers, stray intake and other nonessential services to meet budget reduction targets. The department is conducting a fee study intended to produce a recommended fee schedule and a breakdown of actual per-case medical and intake costs that will inform future negotiations with the cities.

Ending: Supervisors asked county administration to prioritize completion and reporting of the fee study and to return with numbers that show what city payments would need to be to match the county's costs.