Update : * Follow-up on the news : LAGUNA NIGUEL : City to Pay Higher Animal Shelter Tab

The city will spend almost twice as much as expected to use the Mission Viejo Animal Shelter.

Despite an $85,000 overrun, the City Council voted without comment this week to pay for expansion of the Mission Viejo Animal Shelter, where Laguna Niguel strays have been kept since July.

The expansion was needed after the council agreed in December to have Mission Viejo round up and house Laguna Niguel strays at its shelter.

Mission Viejo officials projected the total price of building room for another 16 kennels, an extra impound vehicle and administrative costs at $100,000.

The estimate did not include $37,000 needed for kennel cages, and Mission Viejo officials underestimated construction costs, City Manager Tim Casey said.

Casey called the overruns “an honest misunderstanding.”

As a result, Laguna Niguel is asking Mission Viejo for permission to pay the $185,000 expansion costs over three years. Originally, Laguna Niguel was told it would cost about $100,000. The Mission Viejo City Council will consider that request at its meeting Monday. Casey said the overrun isn’t large enough to jeopardize the animal-control services contract with Mission Viejo.

The council remains convinced of “the merits of the Mission Viejo program and the proximity of the shelter,” Casey said.

--Compiled BY RUSS LOAR, HOPE HAMASHIGE AND FRANK MESSINA