Middle Still at Impasse over Animal Shelter

COURT HOUSE – The impasse continues over the participation of three municipalities in the Cape May County Animal Shelter. Established as a joint service for municipalities, the shelter has functioned under two multi-year agreements. 
The first was for five years and the second for seven. With the third agreement period set to begin in 2016, county officials sent new five-year agreements,  and new bills, to municipalities in late fall.
All municipalities in the county, with the exception of Ocean City, which operates its own, participate in the county shelter program.
In October, the shelter notified municipalities that the formula for calculating charges had changed. What had been a formula based on population switched to one based on usage, a change that left several towns with larger bills than they ever anticipated. Middle Township found itself with a significant increase.
For Middle Township the increase meant an expense that moved from $71,000 in 2015 to $120,000 for 2016. On top of that large growth in the participation fee, the new county agreement mandated that the township participates in the spay neuter program. 
Where Middle had spent $10,000 on its separate program in 2015, the township faced a bill for a mandatory agreement at $20,000.
The November elections shifted Middle’s governing body from a majority Republican committee to one controlled by Democrats. 
In the midst of that shift, with a 2016 budget to prepare, the township was looking at a total increase in expense for the shelter of $50,000, a one-year increase of 62.5 percent.
Negotiations ensued, but no agreement was reached, culminating in an ultimatum from the county that effectively closed the shelter to Middle Township’s animals in June.
From the county’s perspective, it was well into the calendar year with no authorization for a new five-year agreement with the township. Middle saw the one-year increase, the new formula, and a mandatory 2 percent per year increase over the next five years as burdening the municipality with a greater share of the total expense than made sense.
Judith Davies-Dunhour, the county shelter director, explained that more than just the formula changed leading to the higher costs.
“The county chief financial officer, who had not been here for the earlier agreements, realized that the fringe benefits connected to the shelter had not been included in the costs,” she said.  That presented the municipalities with a “double whammy,” she added.
There was no attempt by the county to move to the new usage formula and the inclusion of the fringe costs in a way that phased those expenses in over time. 
For a large municipality, such as Middle Township, that meant an increase in one year of almost two thirds.
Deputy Mayor Jeffrey DeVico, Middle Township Committee member who directs finance and the budget process, objected strongly. “We want to be part of the county effort, but this is insane,” he said.
At a recent meeting, the township passed a resolution setting up a temporary contract with Aunt Jane’s Kennel; but the arrangement is only for dogs, and the kennel has less capacity than the county shelter. An arrangement for cats is being worked on, DeVico said.
Committee member Timothy Donohue, who was mayor when the first news of the shift in county strategy arrived in October, voted with his colleagues for the temporary arrangement. 
He has since published a letter outlining his reasons for feeling that the arrangement with the county, even at the much higher expense, is the best option for the township going forward. 
The issue of the shelter was not on the agenda at the most recent township committee meeting July 6.
That left the temporary kennel arrangement as the only thing in place. Some members of the public expressed concern that the kennel arrangement, reminiscent of the way the township handled animals before the county shelter, means a return to less than optimal care for the animals and early euthanasia due to lack of space.
Animal advocates have pressed township officials to get a resolution to the problem and reestablish Middle’s standing with the county shelter.
Davies-Dunhour said that the county pays 40 percent of the cost of the shelter, and the participating municipalities pay 60 percent.
One conclusion Mayor Michael Clark drew from that split is that the shelter should not be able to deny service to a township resident who arrives with an animal, given that that resident’s county taxes are paying for a portion of the shelter’s expense.
“I understand that they may want to deny service to our animal control officer while we are still at an impasse on the agreement, but I don’t see how they can deny service to a county resident regardless of the municipality,” he said.
For Clark, the issue comes down to fairness. The county presented a large increase all at once to the township. “We are their host community,” he said.  “There are all sorts of things we do at the county complex that we don’t charge for,” he added. “They should be showing us some cooperation.”
Clark admits that the township wants badly to be part of the county system.  He feels that some form of phasing in of the new costs should be a satisfactory outcome for county officials. “We are working with them, and we expect to have some form of resolution by our next committee meeting,” he said, speaking of the meeting scheduled for July 18.
For Clark, an agreement regarding the current costs for the shelter should not be the end of the discussions. He wants to move the county to a system that treats the animal shelter like any other county service, with a distribution of costs across all taxpayers.
“It should not be different than the county jail,” Clark said.
To contact Vince Conti, email vconti@cmcherald.com.