SEQUIM — Dr. John Miles believes $2.39 per person is not so steep. That’s how much Miles, president of the Clallam County Humane Society, is asking from Sequim residents for their share of the county animal shelter.
Based on the city’s population of 5,030, the Humane Society is asking for $12,000, or a little less than $2.39 per resident, for sheltering services in 2007.
That’s at least twice what Sequim has been paying.
Last year, the Humane Society sheltered 45 Sequim animals and charged the city $4,005.
From January through August of this year, 39 dogs and cats were counted as Sequim strays. The city has paid $3,471.
‘Doesn’t make any sense’
Mayor Walt Schubert seems ready to refuse the larger funding request.
“To me that doesn’t make any sense” to charge the city based on population rather than on sheltering services rendered, Schubert said.
The City Council will hold its final public hearing on the 2007 budget — including animal costs — during its meeting at 6 p.m. Monday at the Transit Center, 190 W. Cedar St.
“It becomes a matter of priorities,” Schubert said.
“We’re supposed to be justifying to the people” how the $18 million in the 2007 budget is spent.
Councilman Don Hall, however, expressed no reluctance.
“I think we should do our share [for the shelter]”, he said.
“It’s a tough situation down there.”
