County proposes dog licensing consolidation

A proposal to enable Flathead County to administer dog licensing for the cities of Kalispell and Whitefish is in the formative stage and will need approval from both cities and the county commissioners to move forward.

Having one government entity in charge of licensing dogs would make the program more efficient and allow the county to work toward licensing more dogs, said Joe Russell, administrator of the Flathead County Health Department that oversees the county Animal Shelter.

Kalispell and Whitefish have their own dog license programs, but revenue from license fees is minimal. For the fiscal year ending June 30, 2012, Kalispell collected just over $1,200 in dog license fees, while Whitefish brought in $940.

“Neither city does a lot to try to generate those licenses,” Russell said.

Columbia Falls does not have a dog licensing program, though its police officers handle calls about vicious and barking dogs.

If the consolidated dog licensing program is approved, each city would continue to respond to dog-related calls. Kalispell has an animal warden, while Whitefish made arrangements with the county to handle animal control a few years ago.

The county shelter recently got a sizable private donation that allowed extra money to be used for licensing outreach. Public education goes a long way toward growing the program, Russell said.

“We’re willing to invest some money in trying to get more animals licensed,” he said, adding that it would also give the program more continuity.

The county has been developing an online database of dog licenses that animal wardens can use with their laptops to quickly return dogs to their owners. Dogs brought to the shelter are given a computer chip for tracking purposes.

County Animal Shelter Director Cliff Bennett told the county Health Board last month that Missoula County brought in $145,000 in dog license fees last year. Flathead County received $14,138 for the same time period.

“While Missoula is a larger county than Flathead in population, they’re not 10 times our size,” Bennett said.

Even though Flathead’s dog license fee revenue is just a fraction of what’s collected in Missoula County, it nevertheless has saved taxpayers money, Russell said, by bringing in money that can be used to run the shelter.

“I’m a real advocate of directed taxes or user fees,” he said.

For the proposal to move forward, both the county and each city would need to adopt an interlocal agreement. Russell drafted a proposed interlocal agreement and presented it to the county commissioners Monday.

Preliminary discussions have been held with both Kalispell and Whitefish city officials, but neither City Council has discussed the proposal yet.

Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by email at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com.