FAYETTEVILLE — Justices of the peace tentatively approved extra staff, supplies, more medicine and pet food to support the cats and dogs kept at the Washington County Animal Shelter.
The Quorum Court’s Finance and Budget Committee approved 2014 funding for the shelter after more than an hour and a half debate Tuesday.
County Judge Marilyn Edwards supervises the shelter’s management. Shelter officials requested $647,054 for next year, or a 41 percent increase from this year’s $457,041 budget.
Most of the focus behind Tuesday’s debate focused on the amount of people it takes to run the shelter. The shelter opened in September 2012.
At A Glance
County Budgets
Washington County's Finance and Budget Committee approved the following budgets. The Quorum Court will vote on a final budget later this year.
Department - 2014 - 2013
Treasurer - $261,120 - $260,011
Treasurer's automation - $21,700 - $24,200
Animal shelter - $647,054 - $457,041
Quorum Court - $154,924 - $144,331
Constables - $205 - $184.02
Source: Washington County
Dan Short, Edward’s chief of staff, and Angela Ledgerwood, shelter director, requested three more positions for 2014 including a veterinarian, a vet tech and a kennel supervisor. The positions added $191,798 in wages, taxes and benefits.
Justices of the peace approved a part-time kennel supervisor Tuesday night to start Jan. 1.
Two of the positions had already been approved. Last month, justices of the peace approved $37,763 in salaries for the remaining year to hire the veterinarian and vet tech but not the kennel supervisor. The shelter started the year with a $295,234 budget to pay for seven employees.
Short has said the shelter needs more workers because staffers were overworked. Some employees quit because of the workload.
Ledgerwood insisted she needs an additional kennel supervisor.
“We need it. I need to be able to cover 12 hours, seven-days-a-week and we have people coming up with vacation time, paid time off, sick time, whatever. I’ve got to be able to cover for them,” Ledgerwood said.
Justice of the Peace Eva Madison said she didn't support a full-time kennel supervisor Tuesday.
“I voted to support two positions,” Madison said. “I want to see how those two positions play out and then go from there.”
Madison supported a proposal from Justice of the Peace Ron Aman to remove money for the kennel supervisor.
Aman’s proposal failed by 5-to-9 votes with Justice of the Peace Jimmy Mardis absent. Madison and Justices of the Peace Rex Bailey, Tom Lundstrum and Joe Patterson voted for Aman’s proposal.
“I think what’s important to remember is the shelter is for the people of Washington County. We’re trying to run it as efficiently as possible and we’ve made some mistakes which is a normal part of starting something new,” said Justice of the Peace John Firmin in support of the kennel supervisor.
Justices of the Peace Harvey Bowman, Diane Bryant, Candy Clark, Rick Cochran, John Firmin, Butch Pond, Ann Harbison, Barbara Fitzpatrick and Bill Ussery voted against.
The committee then tried to vote on Edward’s budget as presented. The budget proposal failed after Clark, committee chairwoman, asked justices of the peace to vote by raising their hands. The panel tied with seven votes for and against forcing Clark to vote against the budget as the tiebreaker.
“Personnel does not go away and every year (Arkansas Public Employee Retirement System cost) goes up higher and higher,” Clark said. “We haven’t heard from our insurance people yet. I have not been satisfied that this third person is going to be necessarily the glue that keeps it all together.”
The committee later voted on the part-time veterinarian as a compromise with a voice vote instead of taking roll.
The full Quorum Court will vote on a final budget later this year. The committee also approved budget proposals for the Treasurer’s Office, the Quorum Court and constables.