FAYETTEVILLE — A future Washington County animal shelter stands a chance to be revenue-neutral or even operate in the black, members of an advisory board said Friday.
The Animal Concerns Advisory Board met Friday for two hours to discuss the financial figures it will present to the Quorum Court’s County Services Committee. Justices of the Peace John Firmin, Butch Pond and Candy Clark and County Judge Marilyn Edwards were also at the meeting.
The board estimated the cost to operate the shelter will be around $265,780 annually, including staff salaries and the use of at least six county jail inmates to serve as caretakers.
The shelter will be within walking distance of the Washington County Detention Center. The free services provided by inmates will save the county $186,681, based on estimates of what six workers would have to be paid.
The board thinks the county will earn $239,000 for animal services through contracts with smaller towns and its animal services budget, which would leave an operational deficit of around $25,000.
The county can make up that deficit through shelter fees for adoptions, implanting pet microchips and imposing fines to pet owners who claim their stray animal, Clark said.
The county could bring in $25,200 from adoption fees alone, said Claudette Cardwell, board chairwoman. She determined that amount by estimating 30 percent of the 1,400 animals the shelter expects to house each year would be adopted at $60 per pet.
The county and several cities have been contracting with Fayetteville to house stray animals.
Last year, Fayetteville informed all of them it no longer wanted to provide the service. The county now has about 10 months to complete its shelter.
The county will need contracts with all small cities for this to work, Cardwell said. The county received verbal commitments from all but two of the cities.
“We’re still in discussions with Prairie Grove and Lincoln,” Cardwell said.