City Weighs Animal Control Contracts

The Simi Valley City Council is scheduled to consider whether to terminate its contract with the Ventura County Animal Regulation Department at its Monday meeting.

Council members will review contract proposals from animal control departments serving the city of Los Angeles, Los Angeles County and Ventura County.

After more than four months of study, the city’s Department of Community Services determined that the city could save almost $50,000 a year if it contracted with the Los Angeles County Department of Animal Care and Control. The agency offered the lowest cost, at $203,000 a year, of the three animal control providers.

The Ventura County Animal Regulation Department has contracted with the city on a yearly basis for the past 10 years. It receives about $250,000 annually for its services.

The city of Moorpark has also expressed interest in abandoning its contract with the Ventura County Animal Regulation Department and joining Simi Valley in any future contract plan.

While preliminary proposals indicate that switching to a different animal control provider would save the city considerable amounts of money, it could also lead to a sharp increase in the costs incurred by other county communities.

If Simi Valley were to terminate the contract, the Ventura County Animal Regulation Department would be forced to charge other cities more because of the lost revenue.

For instance, with Simi Valley, the city of Ventura would pay about $198,000 a year for animal control with the Ventura County agency. If Simi Valley contracted with another agency, Ventura’s cost could rise to more than $266,000 a year. On average, without Simi Valley, area communities could expect to pay an average of 26% more per year for animal control services.