PAWS & More pay plan hits snag with county

WASHINGTON — Representatives from the PAWS & More animal shelter have spent the last several weeks pitching a new payment structure from the local governments they work with. The change would move away from the status quo of semiformal annual arrangements to three-year-long official plans recognized as “28E agreements” in state code.

Shelter representatives said they’d already consulted with the cities of Riverside, Brighton, Kalona and Wellman about the change, and heard positive reactions.

PAWS Board Treasurer Sara O’Donnell said getting things in writing would help the nonprofit qualify for grants and set a more predictable budget for the taxpayer expense.

“It’s been advised as a best practice for this capital campaign that we solidify those relationships,” she said at a Washington County Board of Supervisors meeting Tuesday morning. “What we’d like to propose is a set amount for three years, where we still be keeping track of the animals we serve from the county, and providing reporting to you, of course. But this way, you guys would have a stable report, and so would we.”

The shelter requested a $34,000-a-year rate for the three-year agreement, about $3,000 higher than the average county payments for 2019, 2021 and 2022.

County Supervisor Richard Young took issue with that suggestion. He said the exclusion of 2020 from the figures, as well as an $11,000 difference between the county’s payments in 2021 and 2022, made the metrics inaccurate.

"You skipped 2020, which concerns me,“ he said. ”That’s not a three-year average … and I’m concerned with the three-year average when, last year, we only paid $22,000. Is it going down? I mean, that’s a huge jump.“

Shelter Director Amber Talbot said 2020 was an outlier, since the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic forced the shelter to close for several months.

"If we’re going to go with an agreement closer to an average amount (2020) wouldn’t be a fair representation of the services historically,“ she said. ”We would be operating on significantly less than we would be providing over the next three years … working with other towns, it was recommended that 34 seemed a more reasonable representation.“

Young proposed a five-year rolling average for the payments, which he said would be more representative.

Talbot said shelter decision-makers were “open to however (supervisors) would like it to work.”

Supervisor Marcus Fedler said he appreciated the shelter’s service, but may be hesitant about the 28E proposal.

“I’ve rescued dogs for years now … it’s awesome, it’s a great experience, it lasts forever,” he said. “But that doesn’t think I mean the rest of the county should have to pay for it.”

The board opted to take no action at their Tuesday morning meeting, saying they’re return to the discussion next week. The move came after Kalona City Administrator Ryan Schlabaugh — who helped draft the 28E agreement — advised the county to run plans by their attorney’s office.

“It’d be real helpful … before it comes back to you guys, to make sure it meets those standards that you would like to see as a county,” he said. “I’m pretty confident there are going to be some things in there you’re going to want to change or alter or so forth. This was a pretty quick 28E for the purposes of today.”

Comments: Kalen.McCain@southeastiowaunion.com