Department of Animal Services
Erin Gettis, Director
Dr. Kim Youngberg, Deputy Director
Riverside County
DEPARTMENT OF ANIMAL SERVICES
6851 Van Buren Blvd, Jurupa Valley, CA 92509
(951) 358-7387 FAX (951) 358-7300 TDD (951) 358-5124 Website: www.rcdas.org
May 30, 2024
City of Cathedral City
Attn: Jennifer Nellis
68700 Avenida Lalo Guerrero
Cathedral City, CA 92234
Re: Increase to Contract Rates - Recommendation to the Board of Supervisors on June 25, 2024
Greetings City Partner,
As we approach the end of Fiscal Year 2023-2024, the Riverside County Department of Animal Services, and all County departments, received strategic direction from the County Executive Office and Board of Supervisors (the Board) to increase rates by five percent on all contracts for Fiscal Year 2024- 2025. This includes all contracts w ith our partner Cities where the Department of Animal Services (the Department) provides field, shelter and/or licensing services to the City. The proposed contract rates for the upcoming fiscal year, as shown in the attachment to this letter, will be recommended to the Board on Tuesday, June 25, 2024. If adopted, the new rates will go into effect on August 1, 2024, unless otherwise indicated in a City’s service agreement. Starting in August, the billing statement will reflect the increase in contract rates. The first statement will be sent out in September and subsequent statements following thereafter. Please be advised, the Department will be offering one year contract amendments to all of our cities to continue providing services.
The County conducted a rates study and determined that implementing a full cost recovery approach was not the most reasonable option for our City partners . The fees would be substantially higher if the County were to adopt the full cost recovery model instead of the proposed five percen t increase.
Essentially, there would be a conside rable difference between the current amount pa id by the City and the amount that the City would pay under the full cost re covery model. County Board Policy No. B-4 requires that County departments recover the actual cost of providing services.
Finally, please be advised that the Department of Animal Services will soon be proposing amendments to Ordinance No. 534 and Ordinance No. 630. These Ordinance Amendments will streamline processes , increase efficiency, and update practices to be in l ine with what is practiced nationwide. We encourage your City to promptly adopt any revised versions of these County Ordinances once adopted by t he Riverside County Board of Supervisors.
Department of Animal Services
Erin Gettis, Director
Dr. Kim Youngberg, Deputy Director
Riverside County
DEPARTMENT OF ANIMAL SERVICES
6851 Van Buren Blvd, Jurupa Valley, CA 92509
(951) 358-7387 FAX (951) 358-7300 TDD (951) 358-5124 Website: www.rcdas.org
During this fiscal year ( from July 1, 2023 to April 30, 2024), the Department of Anim al Services has impounded a total of 31,140 live and dead ani mals. To help d ecrease the amount of impounds at the shelters, the staff at Animal Services remain dedicated to reuniting pets with their owners a nd we encourage residents to do the same. Our shelter team works tirelessly to find loving hom es for animals promptly which reduc es their length of stay. In February 2024, the Department initiated the 5,000 Cat Challenge with the goal of saving the lives of an additional 5,000 cats. This initiative is intended to promote trap-neuter-return and shelter -neuter-return, the health of Riverside County cats and improve the outcomes . Other public provided servi ces that the depar tment offers are mobile spay and neut er clinics, wellness clinics , and adoption events . The se efforts also help reduce costs for City partners , improve shelter conditions and lower euthanasia rates.
The County Department of Animal Services appreciates the opportunity to continue the positive partnerships that we have developed with your City. If you have any questions or want to di scuss this further, please contact Harold Jones at email: [email protected] or 951-903-0996 or T haiese Sermons-
Krishnan at email: [email protected] or (951) 358-7545.
Sincerely,
Erin Gettis
Director of Animal Services
Department of Animal Services
Erin Gettis, Director
Dr. Kim Youngberg, Deputy Director
Riverside County
DEPARTMENT OF ANIMAL SERVICES
6851 Van Buren Blvd, Jurupa Valley, CA 92509
(951) 358-7387 FAX (951) 358-7300 TDD (951) 358-5124 Website: www.rcdas.org
DEPARTMENT OF ANIMAL SERVICES
FY 24-25 CONTRACT CITY RATES
PROPOSED ANIMAL CONTROL OFFICER (ACO) RATES
POSITION CURRENT RATE FY
2023/2024
PROPOSED RATE FY
2024/2025
ACO (Hourly Rate) $131.31 $137.88
ACO (Overtime/Hourly-
minimum call out of 2 hours)
$170.15 $178.66
PROPOSED DAILY SHELTERING RATE
SERVICE CURRENT RATE FY
2023/2024
PROPOSED RATE FY
2024/2025
Daily Sheltering Rate $34.10 $35.81
PROPOSED LICENSE PROCESSING FEES
SERVICE CURRENT RATE FY
2023/2024
PROPOSED RATE FY
2024/2025
License Processing Fee $11.35 $11.92
PROPOSED IMPOUND FEES
LOCATION CURRENT RATE FY
2023/2024
PROPOSED RATE FY
2024/2025
Blythe $6.90 $7.25
San Jacinto $10.44 $10.96
CVAC $10.86 $11.40
Jurupa Valley $12.53 $13.16
OTHER PROPOSED FEES
SERVICE CURRENT RATE FY
2023/2024
PROPOSED RATE FY
2024/2025
Large Animal-Horses $20.00 $21.00
Large Animal-Donkey, Sheep $12.00 $12.60
Deads $70.00 $73.50
Wildlife $138.00 $144.90