King County Animal Control agreement with City is extended
At its Feb. 23 meeting, the Council decided to extend the interlocal agreement with King County for Regional Animal Control Services through Dec. 31, 2017.
In June of 2010, a partnership of 26 cities within the County called Regional Animal Services of King County (RASKC) was created and in 2012, 25 cities contracted through 2015 to allow the County to continue providing services for animal control, shelters and pet licensing.
“One of the concerns that was brought up back in 2012 was the condition of the regional animal shelter in Kent,” said police commander Dave Jokinen. “This past week I again toured the animal shelter, and found it was clean and well-kept. Many of the dog kennels have recently been renovated. They have heated floors, brand new doors and keep the pets secure and warm.”
The RASKC program and services are supported directly by program revenues from pet licensing and fees/fines, as well as the General Funds from the County and many of the contracting cities.
For 2013, Mercer Island pet licensing revenue covered the cost of Mercer Island’s portion of animal control services, which continued in 2014 and is expected for 2015. In 2016 the “Program Load Factor” for calculating the cost of service will be reset, and Mercer Island’s will increase slightly.
Estimates show Mercer Island pet licensing revenue falling short of covering the cost of Animal Control Services by $7,962 in 2016 and $9,929 in 2017. The County has a licensing support program that works in partnership with cities to increase licensing revenue. The City would request to participate in this program in order to cover the increases in cost, Jokinen said.
City approves $30,000 for ARCH
At its March 2 meeting, after the Reporter deadline, the Council discussed approval of the ARCH 2015 Administrative Budget and Work Program and authorization of $29,882 for Mercer Island’s contribution to the 2015 ARCH Administrative Budget.
A Regional Coalition for Housing (ARCH) is a partnership of King County and East King County Cities to assist with preserving and increasing the supply of housing for low- and moderate-income households in the region.
While ARCH’s overall Work Program includes general issues for the entire coalition, there are four goals identified in the 2015 Work Program specific to Mercer Island: to assist the city with a Housing Strategy Plan, to assist staff with Town Center code revisions as they pertain to affordable housing, to assist city staff with completion of administrative procedures and documents associated with the land use incentive and tax exemption programs for Town Center and to provide support for Town Center projects that include affordable housing.
Next Paws on Patrol training is Saturday
About 30 people came to the first Paws on Patrol training session on Feb. 26 at City Hall.
“It was an engaging crowd and I think we all learned something,” said police support officer Anna Ormsby. “If you have topic suggestions for future meetings, please let me know.”
The next training meeting will be Saturday, March 7 at 10 a.m. at Luther Burbank Park. Participants should park in the north lot and meet in the grass amphitheater area. Dogs are welcome. Email Ormsby at anna.ormsby@mercergov.org for more information.
