The DeWitt County Public Safety Committee continued a long-standing discussion regarding intergovernmental agreement contracts and payment from municipalities.

Committee Chair Megan Myers indicates that a review of the current agreements raised questions regarding the original intent of the legal contracts. According to Myers, the existing language legally obligates the county to provide a far higher tier of service to participating municipalities than the county originally intended to offer.

John Werts points out that state statutes establish baseline parameters for county animal control responsibilities, including managing rabies risks and responding to running dogs. He adds that if a city chooses to write hyper-local ordinances that exceed those state-level metrics, the municipality must figure out how to independently fund and execute those enforcement needs rather than relying on county personnel.

Buck Carter called for an immediate adjustment, noting the City of Clinton currently generates roughly 70 percent of all service calls received by the department, yet only contributes $15,000 annually to the animal control budget.

Tim Earle believes the County’s actual total operational cost to run the animal control division reached roughly $235,000 last year. With Clinton’s calls comprising the vast majority of that overhead, he calls a $15,000 flat fee not sustainable.

Moving forward, Myers plans to coordinate with shelter leadership to analyze localized call data logs, check State statutory minimums with legal counsel, and draft a simplified, flat-fee or per-call structure to present to municipal partners during upcoming administrative sessions.

No action was taken on the matter on Thursday.