County Looks to Newlyweds, Cat Owners as Fund Sources

Newlyweds and cat owners may be asked to help Ventura County balance its budget for the new fiscal year.

Saddled with a $20-million operating deficit, the Board of Supervisors has asked most county department heads to come up with ways to cut their expenditures by as much as 25%.

During a budget study session Monday, Kathy Jenks, director of the county’s Animal Regulation Department, suggested that the board consider approving cat licensing to help her department offset its proposed $61,900 cut. Jenks noted that Moorpark and Oxnard already have such licensing programs.

“Cat licensing is an idea whose time is coming,” she said. “It’s already coming to the cities.”

Jenks told the board that licensing cats would not only help control the spread of rabies, but it would also help reduce the number of cats put to sleep every year because their owners cannot be found. Last year, the county put 4,590 cats to sleep, compared with 4,116 dogs.

“Maybe if [cat owners] have to pay an annual fee, then they will think to go looking for their animal when it’s missing,” Jenks told the board. “We’ve got to do something to get them to take more responsibility.”

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Even though the board rejected a similar proposal last year, a majority of supervisors Monday said they were open to the idea both for economical reasons and for health and safety concerns.

“Dog owners in the county are supporting all animal control [services], while cat owners who are creating as many problems are not,” Supervisor Judy Mikels said. “This is a budget item that really irritates me. This has got to be done.”

Supervisor John K. Flynn, an Oxnard resident who recently got his two cats licensed, said he also supports a countywide program.

“The dog owners are carrying the total burden right now” in helping to pay for animal control services, he said. “I think we have to be fair to the dog owners.”

If cat licensing is approved, Jenks said that the county would charge $10 for a license--$30 for an animal that is not spayed or neutered. She could not say how much she expects the licensing to generate annually, but that it would be at least $10,000.

“We know we can get that much,” she said. “Everything else will be gravy.”

During her budget presentation, Jenks also asked for permission to use a $53,000 surplus her department has built up over the years from its spaying and neutering services to offset the proposed cut. She said the money would be used to preserve one staff position and maintain a public education program about animal care.

Meanwhile, County Clerk Richard Dean presented his own alternative cost-cutting measures for the board’s consideration.

Dean proposed raising marriage license fees and a host of other actions to help offset the potential $419,800 in cuts his office is facing.

The clerk said raising the license fee from $57 to $66 would bring in an additional $50,000 a year in revenue.

Supervisors Frank Schillo and Flynn said they would support the rate hike, even though it would be the second increase in two years. Last year, marriage license fees were raised $17.

“I don’t have a problem with that,” Schillo said. “I think it is still below market for those kinds of user fees.”

Other proposals included charging an extra dollar for every document recorded by Dean’s office, using newsprint instead of regular paper to produce sample ballots and switching from first- to third-class mail to deliver absentee ballots. This would save another $190,600.

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But Dean said he has received many complaints from people in the past who have not received their absentee ballots on time and would prefer not to use third-class mail if he can help it.

“I don’t want to get anymore nasty letters,” he told the board.

The remainder of the cuts in the clerk’s office would come from the elimination of four staff positions. But Dean warned the board that he is already operating with a skeleton crew of 64 staff members and that any further cuts would severely affect services provided to the public.