The cities of North Bend, Snoqualmie and Carnation have signed on to King County’s new regional animal control and shelter plan.
Checking the “seriously interested” box on a plan ballot, the three cities found the county’s proposal to be less costly than organizing an independent plan.
Under the plan, cities pay for service by Regional Animal Services of King County, which replaces the former King County Department of Animal Care and Control. Abandoned animals would be housed at a non-profit shelter in Lynnwood or at the county shelter in Kent. Six full-time animal control officers would be dedicated to work in the field five days per week, with one officer dedicated to each of the county’s four animal control districts — one in the east, one in the north and two in the south.
New numbers
Last week, the county tallied participating cities and presented North Bend, Carnation and Snoqualmie with final estimated costs for two and half years of service. North Bend will pay about $29,520, while Snoqualmie’s costs are $13,196. Carnation will pay about $9,800.
North Bend and Carnation receive credits for license fees and transition funding, bringing their tallies down to about $11,000 and $5,000, respectively. Snoqualmie did not receive transition funding, but did receive a credit of about $23,000 from pet fees.
“This is the new reality,” said North Bend City Administrator Duncan Wilson. “We always appreciated the previous service, which was at the cost of the license revenue. While we’re not excited to pay the additional amount, it’s probably less then what we have to pay if we had our own system or were involved with a local system.”
Algona-Pacific, Federal Way and Bothell will pull out of the plan after six months. New Castle, Issaquah and Mercer Island have signed on to the plan.
Cities have been asked to give their final notice of interest no later then Wednesday, May 26. The county sends out the final agreement for approval on Friday, May 28.
Snoqualmie Police Chief Jim Schaffer said the city sent its second letter of interest to the county on Monday morning, May 17.
“We’re good with moving forward with these figures,” Schaffer said.
However, he cautioned that numbers don’t always tell the whole story.
“The proof will be… what service you end up with,” Schaffer said.
