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Administrator Chandler interjected that the recommendation is for next fiscal year, but their letter had asked for $30/animal for the balance of this fiscal year, or another $45,000. Mr. Radabaugh rose to address a couple of things that he believed were being missed a little bit. He recounted that Mr. Baird had used the term "catch up, break even", but last year their operating costs for the shelter were $442,000. Dividing that by the number of animals handled, the cost per animal would be approximately $70. In negotiations with Administrator Chandler, the Humane Society has proposed to do it for $40/animal. He asked the Board to keep in mind that was less than it was costing, that it was mandated by state statute, and they were asking for leeway in order to plan ahead. Commissioner Adams asked if we have a contract with them to provide the service, and Administrator Chandler replied there was a contract that goes way back. Ms. Carlson thought the contract went back to 1982. She went on to advise that she was committed to quality care for the animals and animal protection, but underwriting and subsidizing basic care makes it impossible to do other things, like expand the facilities, provide sterilization assistance and other programs to help reduce the unwanted animals in the community, and thus create a situation where there are fewer animals for government to worry about. If they continue to exhaust private funding on basic care, sooner or later, they won't be able to do a good job. That has happened in other communities and then government has the responsibility of building and operating an animal control shelter program. Commissioner Eggert inquired if they could legally contract for more than a year, and County Attorney Vitunac reported it was done all the time, "subject to annual government funding"; it's a standard clause. He suggested a long-term lease subject to their appropriations budget. Administrator Chandler related that was the route he felt was best, but with the uncertainty of revenues, he did not want to create false hope if it could not be done in the future. Commissioner Adams commended the Humane Society for showing their books and putting everything out in the open and felt the Board had an obligation. She did not want the County to be in the business of taking care of animals and did not want the Humane Society to have to shut down because they couldn't afford to continue. March 14, 1995 Booz 9 4 PA, f, E'014