Residents, council members press city to review animal-control contract after complaints about cost and responsiveness

During public comment at the Ceres June 2 budget workshop, several residents and council members pressed staff to re-examine the city's contract for animal-control services after describing slow response times and raising the program's reported cost.

"$800 and some odd thousand dollars a year is just bizarre for animal control in Ceres," a resident said during public comment, echoing other speakers who described uncollected calls and safety concerns. Several speakers said they had waited for animal-control crews and received no response. Others suggested alternatives such as a voucher-based response model or having a city-owned animal-control vehicle.

City staff explained the city belongs to a joint powers authority for animal services and said member cities divide costs partly by the number of animals brought in. "To start our own animal services agency would be far more expensive because we also would need a building," staff said, noting member agencies across the county are also questioning rising costs.

Council members asked staff to return with a cost-comparison analysis: the budget currently includes a large contract-services line for animal services; staff agreed to provide a breakdown and to study the potential savings and tradeoffs of acquiring a vehicle or shifting responsibilities in-house. Dunford said changes to the JPA cost structure would not be immediate and requested time to bring detailed options back to the council.

The city did not take action at the workshop; staff will return with data and cost estimates ahead of the June 23 budget adoption meeting.