Tontitown To Examine Animal Options

— The future of animal control in Tontitown may be decided by simple arithmetic.

City officials met Wednesday with representatives of the Washington County Sheriff’s Office to examine options for animal control in Tontitown. County officials have been scrambling to document how many animal calls the county’s animal control officers have taken inside Tontitown, and what the county might charge the city in the future for that service.

“Where we go as far as billing for the past, that’s something the elected officials and the attorneys will have to work out,” said Maj. Rick Hoyt of the sheriff’s office. “What we’re trying to do is figure out where we go from here.”

Tontitown and Washington County signed an interlocal agreement several years ago to provide police protection in Tontitown using deputy sheriffs. Because animal control is part of the Sheriff’s Office, animal calls from Tontitown have been handled by county animal control officers. The Fayetteville Animal Shelter, which takes in animals picked up by county officers, billed Washington County, not Tontitown, for sheltering the animals.

Hoyt plans to propose a separate agreement between Tontitown and the county dealing specifically with animal control.

“Once we figure out the true cost average, we can give you a figure on what it would take to recover our costs,” Hoyt said. “You can look at that and decide if you want to do it that way, or go out and hire some sort of city employee to handle animals.”

While the numbers aren’t yet available, the city-county solution seems to make sense, said Ken Robertson, a Tontitown alderman.

“We’re going to need to weigh our options and see what path makes the most sense, but I don’t think we’re going to see a smarter deal than this,” he said. “Animal control wasn’t even considered when we talked about the agreement for police coverage. It’s something that just recently came to everyone’s attention.”

Tontitown is the only city in Washington County where the Sheriff’s Office handles animal control duties, Hoyt said. Other cities either use city employees or don’t have animal control.

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