Politics & Government
Kirkland to Stick With King County for Animal Control Services
In March the city threatened to end its long arrangement with the county and start its own program. But a better deal has been negotiated.
ย
After threatening to start its own program, the City of Kirkland has reached a better deal with King County for animal control services, so the City Council earlier this week authorized the city manager to sign a new three-year deal.
In March, due to increased costs from the county.
But subsequent negotiations with the county resulted in a more favorable fee structure for the city.
Under the new agreement beginning in 2013, King County will assign one animal control officer to the northern district, which includes Kirkland and eight other cities, and the county will continue to license, control and shelter Kirklandโs animals.
One contract improvement is a change in the way King County charges Kirkland for animal control services. The new system bases 20 percent of the costs on population size and 80 percent on use. The Countyโs old system based 50 percent of animal services costs on the cityโs population size. The other 50 percent was based on use. The new formula results in a decreased cost to Kirkland for all three years of the new contract.
The new contract also caps program costs in the first year, and restricts increases to inflation and major population shifts in 2014 and 2015. For Kirkland and other cities, this new approach controls costs, minimizes financial risks, and ensures predictability.
โThe commitment to cap costs and establish predictability in 2014 and 2015 was critical to the City of Kirkland,โ City Manager Kurt Triplett said in a press release.
When the city analyzed the possibility of a Kirkland-run system for the same time-period, they discovered that the required start-up costs exceeded the price of King Countyโs system under the new approach.
Kirklandโs leaders will continue to monitor the effectiveness and efficiency of the regional modelโ, but also continue to evaluate a local animal control services, which at some point could be a more cost-effective.
----
Most of the information for this article came from a City of Kirkland press release.
Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.