Sara Wynveen, an animal care office specialist at the Lincoln County Animal Shelter, gives a medical checkup to an underweight kitten on Thursday. The kitten is one of five kittens found yesterday after they were abandoned beside a condo in Lincoln City. (Photo by Monique Cohen)

Funding for the Lincoln County Animal Shelter is running out and will end June 30, 2010, but county residents will have a chance to decide on a long-term funding solution in November’s election.

The Lincoln County Board of Commissioners adopted a resolution Wednesday that will place a measure on the November ballot and keep the shelter open to the public beyond June 30, 2010.

Voters will decide whether to approve a five-year local option tax that asks residents to pay a tax of 11 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value. If approved, the property tax would begin in fiscal year 2010-2011 and provide funding for five years for the animal shelter and animal control services throughout the county, including all cities.

Recent budget cuts reduced the funding to keep the Lincoln County Animal Shelter open to the public, but one-time funding sources allowed the shelter to remain open through June 30, 2010. The shelter feeds and cares for homeless dogs and cats and provides adoption services. Lincoln County Animal Control investigates animal abuse and neglect cases and enforces local and state laws regulating dogs.

Bill Hume, vice president of Friends of the Lincoln County Animal Shelter (FOLCAS), turned in petitions with more than 2,239 signatures to the commissioners on Aug. 26. The signatures were almost twice the number required to support an initiative under Oregon law.

“This will get us started for more of a permanent funding basis for the five years starting next summer. As you gentlemen well know, you’ve been kind enough to extend this year to run the shelter as we now know it, but starting next summer, we have to start basically all over again from ground zero,” Hume said at the Aug. 26 meeting.

According to the draft ballot summary, the measure would raise about $648,341 in tax revenues for 2010-2011; $661,308 in 2011-2012; $674,534 in 2012-2103; $688,025 in 2013-2014; and $701,785 in 2014-2015.



Monique Cohen is a reporter with the News-Times. Contact her at 265-8571 ext. 217 or mcohen@newportnewstimes.com.



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