Report to Mayor and City Council
Wednesday, May 22, 2024
Consent
SUBJECT:
Title
CONSIDER ADOPTION OF RESOLUTION NO. 24-044, APPROVING THE BUDGET TRANSFERS IN FISCAL YEAR 2023-2024 IN PUBLIC SAFETY TO INCREASE THE ANIMAL CONTROL CONTRACT BUDGET
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I. SUMMARY
This item is to update the City Council on the budget requirement for the animal control contract.
On November 7, 2023, Staff presented, and Council approved the FY 2023-24 Full-Service Level Agreement for five (5) months and funded the PS Animal Control budget for $286,173.75, with an understanding of hiring a new Animal Control Officer (ACO). The City has undergone two extensive recruitment cycles and has finally been successful in finding the ideal candidate. The new ACO is expected to start within the next two weeks.
As a result, staff would like to request City Council to approve Resolution No. 24-044 (Exhibit No.1) to transfer the budget from other Public Safety accounts to the animal control account to cover the remainder of the fiscal year.
II. RECOMMENDATION
Recommendation
ADOPT Resolution No. 24-044, “A resolution of the City of Carson City Council approving the Fiscal Year 2023/24 budget transfers for public safety to increase contract budget for the animal control contract (C19-104) by $150,000”.
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III. ALTERNATIVES
TAKE any other action the City Council deems appropriate that is consistent with the requirements of the law.
IV. BACKGROUND
In 2018, the County informed the city that based on a comprehensive study of the LADACC’s cost structure and billing methodology, it was determined that the County was not charging enough to recover costs, and a new billing method was recommended. In anticipation of the increased new billing, City Council approved hiring an in-house Animal Control Officer (ACO) to reduce costs. Due to the hire of an in-house ACO, City Council authorized the purchase of an F250 truck from Fairway Ford for the ACO’s use in 2021.
On April 3, 2023, the city was informed of the resignation of the in-house full-time ACO, requiring the city to transition into full-service support for animal control services until hiring a new in-house ACO.
On November 7, 2023, Staff presented, and Council approved the FY 2023-24 Full-Service Level Agreement for five (5) months and funded the PS Animal Control budget for $286,173.75, with an understanding of hiring a new Animal Control Officer (ACO) by February 2023. The City has been successful in finding a candidate who can successfully pass the City’s hiring requirements.
It should be noted that due to several variables (County billing method change, purchase of a new vehicle, staff changes, transition to full-service support, etc.) directly affecting the cost of the animal care and control contract, the current projection is the best estimate staff can make at this moment. Staff will continue to monitor this contract cost as deemed necessary.
Staff would like to request City Council approve the following budget transfers by adopting Resolution No. 24-044 to the animal control account to amend the current budget.
From: 101-55-592-250-5004 - ($100,000)
101-55-592-100-5002 - ($50,000)
To: 101-55-592-158-6004 - $150,000
V. FISCAL IMPACT
If Council approves staff recommendation, the budget transfer in Resolution No. 24-044 will be processed with no fiscal impact to the General Fund as funds are being transferred from existing Public Safety accounts in the current Fiscal Year.
VI. EXHIBITS
1. Resolution No. 24-044 (pgs. 3-4)
2. Available Budget Projections for Budget Transfer Request (pg.5)
Prepared by: Nora Garcia, Emergency Services Manager