South Central Reporter

Macoupin County Public Safety Committee met Sept. 7.

Here are the minutes provided by the committee:

I. CALL TO ORDER 

PRESENT: Dragovich (Remote), Kiel, Acord, Ibberson, Starr (Remote), Wiggins,  Schmidt, Duncan, Kahl, Walden 

ABSENT: Payne 

II. AGENDA ITEMS 

1. Amendment to Animal Control Ordinance 

Dragovich said that the ordinances passed before were still good and he  

thought that what would need to happen was renegotiate the contracts with  the cities and villages. The county currently gets $18 an hour plus mileage for  an animal control officer to go into the city for picking up an animal. Dragovich  felt that the fees were the same as the ordinances approved as the cities so  the fees are the same. Schmidt passed out the fee schedule for the Animal  Control Department and walked through the costs. Walden said all of the fees  are currently being collected. 

Jersey County is currently charging less for registration fees. There are no  city turn in fees since the City of Jerseyville handles the shelter. There is no  full time animal control officer there. 

Montgomery County is charging the same for registrations fees. There  

boarding fee is only $5. The City turn in fees are $50 for dogs and $40 for  cats, more than ours. $75 is the turn in fees for a litter of puppies or kittens.  They also have lower relinquishment fees than us. 

Christian County is charging $10 for a registration fees. No boarding fees.  They have no city turn in fees. Taylorville pays $400 a month for 4 kennels.  Pana has 2 kennels for $250 a month. Their reclaim fee is the same as ours.  Christian has 2 full time and 6 part time. 

Sangamon County has a registration fee of $17 dollars instead of the $10 we  charge. Their boarding fee is $14 dollars a day. There are separate contracts  with each city for turn in fees. They have 2 full time kennel officers, and are  supposed to have 4. They have 4 clerical workers and 6 full time officers to  pick up animals.

Our fees seem to be in line with the other counties, some are a little higher  and some a little lower but basically in line with the other counties. 

Kiel asked if the cities had been paying. Walden said yes cities are paying  what they are charged. 

There was a discussion about raising the registration fee from $10 to $12 an  animal since Walden said that the registration and rabies fees make up about  half of their revenue each year. They discussed removing puppy and kitten as  differential for city turn in since there is the same cost and care required for a  puppy as a dog and kitten or cat. 

Wiggins asked if they should be looking into starting up another TAILS group  to do fundraising for the department. There is going to be a golf tournament  on September 25th for the department. 

Kiel walked through the fees. They wanted to increase the registration fee  from $10 to $12 for spayed/neutered animals. They did not want to alter the  $25 fee. Acord mentioned raising that to $30. The boarding fee of $15 per  day Walden wanted to increase to $20. The committee decided to raise it to  $18. For the city turn in fees, they decided to remove the distinction between  dog and puppy and cat and kitten so it is the same charge for a dog and a  cat. For the owner relinquishment fees, the committee felt leaving it the same.  They did want to add a litter options for both an additional $25 over the dog or  cat cost. They did not want to change their reclaim fee. For adoption fees, the  cost for the dog is $100 and $75 for cats. For effective date, there was a  discussion and the decision 

Motion by Ibberson, seconded by Acord to recommend amending the animal  control fees schedule. 

RESULT: MOTION TO RECOMMEND [UNANIMOUS] MOVER: Jim Ibberson, Member SECONDER: Matthew Acord, Member AYES: Dragovich, Kiel, Acord, Ibberson, Starr, Wiggins ABSENT: Payne

2. Transfer from General Fund to Animal Control Fund 

Clerk Duncan said the fund right now was broke with a balance of .22 cents.  Outstanding expenditures include $4,640.82 in bills, $1,118.78 for August  insurance premiums and $1,118.78 in September insurance premiums,  $8,953.25 in September payroll, and $1,915 of August 31st salaries that were  unable to be paid. That meant as of tonight there was $17,746.63 in bills and  22 cents to pay them. The monthly average revenue was $13,000 last year  but the fund only brought in $4,744 last month which ended the fund with no money left. There was $5,000 in the general fund to be spent now that the  fiscal year has started, but that still left over $12,000 in bills to paid. Walden  said she had about $4,260 of receipts to be turned in. The only choice was for  the Board to transfer for money to keep the department solvent.  

Motion by Starr, seconded by Wiggins to recommend transferring $50,000  from the General Fund to the Animal Control fund. 

3. Law Enforcement Appreciation Ad 

Ibberson presented a back the back the blue badge and had sample language  for the ads. Kiel said he wasn’t sure in the past how much the Board has  appreciated law enforcement so he thanked him for taking this action. Kahl, Starr  and Schmidt decided to meet at some point to create a draft ad before the full  board meeting.

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