Animal Services Department
4800 Imhoff Place
Martinez, California 94553-4300
(925) 608-8400
Beth Ward
Animal Services Director
Contra
Costa
County
October 3, 2023
Ms. Sasha Curl
City of Richmond
450 Civic Center Plaza, Ste. 300
Richmond, CA 94804
Re: Service Agreement Amendment (i.e., Section 13.a.iii. CORRECTION) Dear City Manager Ms. Sasha Curl,
I wanted to reach out to you today to bring forward a correction in Section 13. a. iii of the City – County Animal Services Agreement (“Agreement”) that pertains to the calculation of the Annual Fee. Unfortunately, your city council members approved the agreement without the revised language for section 13.a.iii.
The Agreement states that the population used to calculate the per-capita rate would include both the cities for which the County provides animal services and the unincorporated population. That needs to be corrected because it should only reflect the incorporated populations of the cities and towns we contract with, not the unincorporated areas. To correct this, section 13.a.iii of the Agreement must be amended to remove the clause “…of the unincorporated area plus the…,” as indicated below:
13. Annual Fee a. In consideration for Services provided by the County to the City, and in addition to any fees and fines imposed on City residents, the City agrees to pay to the county the following amounts (“Annual Fee”):
… iii. For each fiscal year thereafter, the per capita rate for the Annual Fee shall be calculated using the following formula: (A) the County’s budgeted cost to provide Animal Services throughout the County in that fiscal year, minus the sum of animal licensing fees and user fees projected to be received from all County residents in that fiscal year, minus the budgeted County general fund contribution for that fiscal year, divided by (B) the sum of the population of the unincorporated area plus the population of all cities for which the County provides Animal Services. For example, if the budgeted cost to provide Animal Services throughout the County is $12,640,000, the animal licensing and user fees projected to be received are $1,620,000, the budgeted general fund contribution is $4,112,000, and the population is 866,583, then the per capita Annual Fee would be $7.97 per capita [($12,640,000 - $1,620,000 - $4,112,000) / 866,583]. For a City with a population of 100,000, the total Annual Fee would be $797,000.
While the example below the deleted excerpt in the Agreement reflects the correct formula, the narrative does not accurately capture the fee structure as devised in the County’s strategic planning process and what had been previously communicated during meetings between City officials and Animal Services. I have attached an amendment that corrects this error—i.e., removes the erroneous highlighted section to match the formula and what was agreed upon between the City and County. The City of Richmond will thus need to process this amendment with their City Council to correct this section in the City-County Animal Services Agreement.
Please let me know if you have any questions.
Thank you,
Beth Ward
Beth Ward, Director
DocuSign Envelope ID: 1D14FB62-1B1C-4023-837F-417F483B7DF2
AMENDMENT BETWEEN THE COUNTY OF CONTRA COSTA AND THE CITY OF
RICHMOND, CA ANIMAL SEVICES AGREEMENT
County of Contra Costa (“County”), a political subdivision of the State of California, and the City of Richmond (“City”), a municipal corporation of the State of California and in the County, hereby execute this administrative amendment to the City-County Animal Services Agreement, effective July 1, 2022 (“Agreement”), to correct an error in the Agreement and to accurately reflect the original intent and agreed upon terms between the City and County. NOW THEREFORE, County and City hereby amend the Agreement, as follows:
1. Correct Section 13.a.iii. of the Agreement. To accurately reflect the original intent and agreed upon terms between the City and County, Section 13.a.iii. of the Agreement is hereby amended to remove the erroneous clause “…of the unincorporated area plus the…” Section 13.a.iii. is therefore deleted in its entirety and replaced with the below Section 13.a.iii., as set forth below:
13. …
a. …
iii. For each fiscal year thereafter, the per capita rate for the Annual Fee shall be calculated using the following formula: (A) The County’s budgeted cost to provide Animal Services throughout the County in that fiscal year, minus the sum of animal licensing fees and user fees projected to be received from all County residents in that fiscal year, minus the budgeted County general fund contribution for that fiscal year, divided by (B) the sum of the population of all cities for which the County provides Animal Services. For example, if the budgeted cost to provide Animal Services throughout the County is $12,640,000, the animal licensing and user fees projected to be received are $1,620,000, the budgeted general fund contribution is $4,112,000, and the population is 866,583, then the per capita Annual Fee would be $7.97 per capita [($12,640,000 - $1,620,000 - $4,112,000) / 866,583]. For a City with a population of 100,000, the total Annual Fee would be $797,000.
2. Aside from the amended Section 13.a.iii of the Agreement, set forth above, all other terms and conditions of the Agreement shall remain in effect as provided therein. Furthermore, nothing in this amendment to the Agreement shall be construed to affect the interpretation of any other section(s) of the Agreement, except for those explicitly referenced above.
COUNTY: CITY
_________________________________ __________________________________
By: Beth Ward
Title: Animal Services Director
Date: ____________________________
By: _____________________________
Title: ____________________________
Date: _____________________________
DocuSign Envelope ID: 1D14FB62-1B1C-4023-837F-417F483B7DF2 10/3/2023