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HomeMy WebLinkAboutFinance Dept-Kauai Humane Society, DEPARTMENTAL BUDGET CALL-BACKS FY 2014-15 4/21/2014 DEPARTMENTAL BUDGET CALL-BACKS FY 2014-15 FINANCE - KAUAI HUMANE SOCIETY April 21, 2014 Budget Call-Backs (Finance—Kauai. Humane Society) (ss) Page 1 There being no objections, the Committee was called back to order at 1:09 p.m. and proceeded as follows: Department of Finance —Kauai Humane Society Honorable Mason K. Chock, Sr. Honorable Gary L. Hooser Honorable JoAnn A. Yukimura Honorable Jay Furfaro, Council Chair Excused: Honorable Tim Bynum Honorable Ross Kagawa Honorable Mel Rapozo Chair Furfaro: This is a return from lunch recess. We have four members to start this particular time is based for a call-back of the Finance Department in particular, the line item dealing with the Kaua`i Humane Society. So Steve, I guess I would ask you to come up first. Mr. Hunt: Steve Hunt, Director of Finance, for the record. Chair Furfaro: Once again, happy birthday. Mr. Hunt: Thank you, Chair. Ms. Yukimura: Happy birthday. Mr. Hunt: Thank you. Chair Furfaro: I believe we had some queries on your line item for the Humane Society. I, myself, do not. I feel that the line item is something that the Administration should manage. We have addressed two options for additional licensing fees, and we put an additional $100,000 in the budget from the previous year. So I will open this up for questions from members. Mr. Hunt: Thank you. Chair Furfaro: Members? JoAnn. Ms. Yukimura: I am actually speaking on behalf of Councilmember Rapozo, because he was the one that had concerns and he is representing the Council on the TAT issue today. Mr. Hunt: Very important. Mr. Rapozo: So I know that he would have wanted to be here otherwise. His question was about the spay / neuter program. He was concerned that in not explicitly or in moving moneys, I guess, that were earmarked for spay / neuter to "general animal control." That we, the Humane Society, would be neglecting the spay / neuter program, which I do not think is anything anybody wants and I do not believe that is the Humane Society's intention or proposed action. But I know he raised that question and I think for that reason we need to have that answered. April 21, 2014 Budget Call-Backs (Finance —Kaua`i Humane Society) (ss) Page 2 Mr. Hunt: Sure. I guess first, if we talk about the Humane Society's budget, what they are looking at in terms of what it costs to operate, in addition, to the $760,000 grant that we give the Humane Society, currently it has been through contract we have earmarked $695,000 for the animal control and $65,000 for the spay / neuter program. Additionally they are projecting and again, these are projections and they may not be actuals, but they are projecting additional program revenue of $120,000, bringing their total to about $880,000 in revenue. Their expenditures are forecast for Fiscal 2015 of about $989,000 and those are just for the County services. They have other programs outside that is not part of the County program, but they are fundraising and getting donations to run those programs as well. Just for the County's services alone, it is a deficit of almost $109,000. So we are not fully funding what it is we are asking them to do. As part of the discussion that Penny and I had regarding the contract that will be coming up in Fiscal 2015 the thought would be to take those moneys that $65,000 earmarked for spay / neuter and move that into the animal control. Not that they are not going to be doing the spay / neuter services, but that it is easier for donors, who want to give to that specific purpose to be allowed to do that and fundraise in that manner. Whether we move it or not, it does not change the amount that we are giving, nor the deficit that they are anticipated to incur. It is just a tool for them to hopefully get closer to breaking even on running that service. Ms. Yukimura: So the feeling is that private money can be raised more easily for spay / neuter programs because there is such an awareness of how important that is to avoid euthanization or it is preventative. So people understand that importance and will donate towards that end. Mr. Hunt: I do not want to put words in her mouth. Ms. Yukimura: I would ask for Penny to come up. Mr. Hunt: The Fiscal Year 2015 budget as proposed the expenditures are coming in about $126,000 lower than Fiscal Year 2014. So they have had made efforts and reduced their hours of services and cut personnel costs and managed their expenditures as well. But there is still a gap. Chair Furfaro: Steve what was the number again? Mr. Hunt: The actual projected number between Fiscal Year 2014 and 2015 on expenditures decrease is $126,291 on a preliminary budget. Chair Furfaro: Thank you. Ms. Yukimura: That is very admirable actually. If we could do that in all County Departments without any major impact to services, that is really ideal. So perhaps we can hear from Penny. PENNY CISTARO, Executive Director, Kaua`i Humane Society: Penny Cistaro, Executive Director of the Kaua`i Humane Society for the record. It is easier for the Kaua`i Humane Society to do fundraising and obtain grants from foundations if we have no other source of funding. Grants when you say that you have sources of funding, they tend to look at that in relation to grant awards, amounts of grants, so for us if we did not have that $65,000 from the County and it went into our animal control program, it is the same April 21, 2014 Budget Call-Backs (Finance—Kaua`i Humane Society) (ss) Page 3 amount as Steve said. We are still going to be subsidizing the contract by about $108,000 is our projection this year. So whether it is $65,000 going into spay / neuter and the other remainder going into the contract, it is six and one-half. Ms. Yukimura: It does not mean that you are cutting your spay / neuter program? Ms. Cistaro: Absolutely not. Ms. Yukimura: You plan to maintain the same level as Fiscal Year 2014? Ms. Cistaro: Absolutely. We have plans to build in a second surgery suite through a donor and bring on an additional veterinarian, so we can provide more surgeries to the community. Ms. Yukimura: At an economical cost, right? Ms. Cistaro: Yes. We just purchased a used vehicle partially through a donation from Enterprise, so we can continue to do the mobile spay / neuter over the summer months in the community for cats. So we are going to continue those programs whether the County funds that portion of it or not. For us it is a lump sum, $760,000 whether it is animal control or spay/neuter, the programs are going to stay the same. Ms. Yukimura: Stay the same or it might even increase? Ms. Cistaro: Potentially. Ms. Yukimura: Yes. So Councilmember Rapozo, I know was talking about why do they not give certificates so people can take it to private vets? Are you planning that as part of the program? Ms. Cistaro: That is not part of our plans. The veterinarians are...the surgeries can be up to $500 for one animal and that does not include the pre- surgical Office visit or vaccinations that can take a female dog to over $600 and to give a coupon for $40 is not a good use of our resources. The least expensive surgery for a male cat at a veterinarian is $73 and it is $20 at the shelter. Again that does not include the pre- surgical vaccinations, so you look at a $200 cost to neuter a male cat and given $40 on that it is not a good use of our resources when we can fund to do so many more animals with that amount of money. If the Council is putting the entire $760,000 towards the animal control program, they are no longer funding the spay / neuter program. It is all of our resources so we would not be using the coupon for a discounted price at a private veterinarian. Ms. Yukimura: Okay. The whole intent is to do the maximum number of spay / neuters, which is arguably the most compassionate way to do animal control. Ms. Cistaro: Yes. Ms. Yukimura: Right. Okay. That is all I have. April 21, 2014 Budget Call-Backs (Finance—Kaua`i Humane Society) (ss) Page 4 Chair Furfaro: Mr. Hooser. Mr. Hooser: Good afternoon. Just to reframe or restate the amount of money in the budget now is how much for the Humane Society, County money? Mr. Hunt: In the County money, it is $760,000 and does not say so much for animal control. It is just a line item, $760,000. Mr. Hooser: Last year how much was it? Mr. Hunt: Last year, the current fiscal, prior to that was $660,000. Mr. Hooser: Current fiscal and projected fiscal is $760,000 and my biggest concern is walking out into the super market and saying how come you cut spay / neuter, when the County is not cutting spay / neuter? The County is funding the same thing we funded last year? So that is one of my concerns or probably the most important one is that...go ahead. Mr. Hunt: If I could respond, I have heard from the other end, which are the private veterinarians saying that we pay taxes and you are taking our money and giving spay / neuter money to the Humane Society, which is essentially a competitor. So if we are moving this into the animal control program and they raise their own money for spay / neuter they are getting the same spay / neuter more, possibly more, but there is not that appearance of subsidizing a competitor. Mr. Hooser: Right. I want to be clear that the County is not cutting the spay/neuter program. Ms. Cistaro: You could comfortably say that, that the County, nor the Humane Society has cut the spay / neuter program. You are still funding to the same level that you were. Our program will not change. Mr. Hooser: Okay. Great. Thank you. Chair Furfaro: Members? Steve, I just want to thank you for working out...again my point is that we have increased in this period of time from 2013 to 2015 the amount allocated to the Humane Society, a 13.5% increase. We have also given opportunities and that represents the $100,000 that we have given opportunities to creatively have other licenses and fees go into that direction. I just wanted to again iterate that I appreciate you working on that line item contract under the Administration, and I think we need to just keep track on how we are doing here going forward. I want to thank you for your sincere effort on working on this line item. JoAnn seems to want the floor. So I will give it to her. Ms. Yukimura: It is not about spay / neuter, but it is about the potential additional costs. I wondered how the barking dog enforcement is going? There was some question about whether it would generate a need for more revenues? But I think you have good news. Ms. Cistaro: I do have good news. The Barking Dog Ordinance... April 21, 2014 Budget Call-Backs (Finance—Kaua`i Humane Society) (ss) Page 5 Chair Furfaro: Excuse me, before you answer that in the budget procedure I am going to allow the question. The agenda item is for a specific line item, but if you want to talk about that, and we have the time and I think the way I will connect is that JoAnn is seriously seeking out the fact will there be other costs and other revenues tied into the budget? I have to say that, JoAnn, because I do not want to stray beyond the posting. Now you can answer. Ms. Yukimura: Thank you. Ms. Cistaro: It is going well. We have had two cases successfully closed with education, and from one of those, we have a new donor that is pledging a gift every year moving forward, because of how well it worked. We have nine open cases right now, and we have had a total of 11, two have closed successfully. The others are in the work progress. I think that a deterrent to people, to the public is that they cannot be anonymous complaints and that they need to be part of the solution. So that is where the Barking Dog Ordinance stands. The good news on the cat licensing, which is tied to the budget, Councilmember... Chair Furfaro: I am a stickler about following the rules. Ms. Cistaro: Cat licensing which is bringing in additional revenue to our side of the contract, it started at the beginning of March, end of February, beginning of March and through the end of...I think the weekend, we have sold 43 cat licenses, which is a big deal for us. Ms. Yukimura: Excellent news. Chair Furfaro: Excellent. Ms. Yukimura: Thank you very much. Ms. Cistaro: You are welcome. Chair Furfaro: Any other questions as it relates to the Humane Society's budget line item? I would like to... Ms. Cistaro: May I make a comment, please? Chair Furfaro: I would like to suspend the rules for Penny to make some operating comments, go right ahead. Ms. Cistaro: I will not be at the hearing on Wednesday for the administrative accounting of the cat licensing income and expenses. Two reasons. I am off- island. Ms. Yukimura: For the bill, you mean? Ms. Cistaro: Yes, for the bill. I am off-island and it does not have an impact on our programmatic. It is a internal accounting housekeeping, which is why I was not here last week and I was not present at any of the dog licensing hearings on the administrative side of that. So I apologize, but I will not be here. April 21, 2014 Budget Call-Backs (Finance —Kaua`i Humane Society) (ss) Page 6 Chair Furfaro: Thank you very much for recognizing the line item itself is in the Finance Department. Any testimony that you can give us in advance would certainly be appreciated. Steve? Mr. Hunt: Just to reiterate the one coming up on Wednesday is related to how we can divert the moneys back to the Humane Society, which we have essentially agreed to the cat licensing bill they would be entitled to, but without the budgetary line item expense we cannot give them those moneys back and they are currently issued to the Director of Finance. Chair Furfaro: The agenda item as far as I am concerned really will deal with how do we flow the intake and the outflow of those moneys. So I am sure you will have the appropriate answers for us then. To the Administration, we are going to take a 10-minute recess and I would like to see if we could not start earlier with our next item, which is Life's Choices? Ms. Yukimura: Chair? Chair Furfaro: Yes? Ms. Yukimura: Could I ask for a 15-minute break? Chair Furfaro: I will give you 20 minutes. Ms. Yukimura: That would be great. Chair Furfaro: We will start up again. Penny, thank you very much. Nadine, could I ask that we start Life's Choices at quarter of 2:00 p.m. We are in recess. There being no objections, the Committee recessed at 1:25 p.m.