With just a day before the deadline, the Humane Society of St. Joseph County and county commissioners have reached agreement on a contract for this year.
Commissioners will vote on the contract Tuesday. The Humane Society has agreed to keep providing animal control services through March 31, which is Wednesday, despite the county council having approved far less funding for this year than they had requested.
The Humane Society initially asked the county for $1.3 million this year, about double last year’s funding, but the council instead had approved just $619,000, a 3% increase from last year. The council said commissioners never told them of the Humane Society’s larger request.
The Humane Society wants to start offering health insurance to staff, buy some new vehicles, upgrade their heating, ventilation and air-conditioning, and add two employees, including a full-time veterinarian.
They seem to have reached a compromise with commissioners as the new contract amounts to nearly $915,000. It wasn’t clear Friday which of the new expenditures the Humane Society will still be able to do this year, since Executive Director Genny Brown was unavailable for comment.
