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Las Cruces council amends animal-control fee schedule, removes duplicate cat-colony charge
Summary
The council unanimously approved amendments to the city's animal-control fee schedule, striking an "enclosed feral/community cat colony" fee, shifting intact‑animal fees to a per‑animal basis and changing the litter fee to per litter; staff said collected fees will go to the general fund.
Las Cruces City Council on Nov. 17 amended the fee schedule tied to a municipal animal-control ordinance, eliminating what councilors and members of the public called duplicate charges and aligning some fees more closely with Do————a Ana County practices.
City staff introduced the revised Exhibit A to the city's animal-control ordinance and proposed two clarifying edits: replacing confusing wording about a $20 one-time processing fee so it reads as a single one-time fee for a site's first permit, and inserting the word "permit" after the heading "dangerous/potentially dangerous dogs." Council members then proposed and approved a package of additional amendments to remove an "enclosed feral/community cat colony" fee, change the intact‑animal permit to a per‑animal annual charge and alter the litter fee to be charged per litter rather than per site.
Members of the public pressed for the changes. "If you question that, just go into Cats Meow and see how many ear-tipped cats are there up for adoption," public commenter Kathy Stark said, asking the council to avoid charging residents twice for an enclosed colony and to structure intact-animal fees per animal to curb backyard breeding.
Staff clarified how the fees will be used. "Those funds would go directly into the general fund," said Gino Jimenez (city staff), describing the intake of fee revenue and confirming the fees are not earmarked to a separate special fund.
Councilor motions and votes followed the public comments and staff explanation. The amendment motion to revise Exhibit A passed on a voice roll call with Councilor Matisse absent and the remaining members voting yes.
The ordinance-related fee schedule will be reflected in the city's fee exhibit and implemented as amended. The council did not discuss a separate reallocation of fee revenue at this meeting but several councilors asked staff to explore future options for dedicating fees to education or animal-services programs.
The resolution adopting the amended schedule was adopted Nov. 17; the council recessed to subsequent agenda items afterward.
