The City of Clinton has an intergovernmental agreement with DeWitt County to handle Animal Control, but that may be coming to an end.
At Thursday night's DeWitt County Public Safety Committee Meeting, the board discussed their intergovernmental agreement with the City of Clinton, because they feel they do not earn enough revenue from the city to sustain it. Board Member Buck Carter feels all municipalities in DeWitt County need to be paying more for Animal Control's services.
Animal Control Administrator Tony Harris notes that although they are issuing citations, it is very hard to follow up on and collect the fines that are administered. This means the county is not receiving the revenue to support the budget.
Board Member John Werts suggested ending their agreement with the City of Clinton when it expires in 2025 and letting the city decide if it would cost them more to have their own shelter and animal control or to pay the county more money for their services.
Tony Harris also made the announcement at the meeting, that he will be resigning from his Animal Control position soon after the start of the year, due to the stress he is under being responsible for Animal Control and the E911 Center. He says he wants to be a part of the process to hire someone new, and suggested it be a full-time position.
