Hart BOC Working on New Funding Agreement with Northeast GA Animal Shelter

The Hart County Board of Commission has voted to come up with a new contract between the County and the Northeast Georgia Animal Shelter that will standardize the fees it pays to the shelter for services.

The contract will be based on a formula like the one used in previous years.

At their budget meeting earlier this month, supporters of the Northeast Georgia Animal Shelter and animal welfare packed the Commission meeting to voice their concerns on how the County funds the shelter.

But before any discussion, Commission Chair Marshal Sayer dispelled a rumor that the County planned to stop funding NEGAS and have its own animal shelter.

County Administrator Terrell Partain later clarified that new kennels were being built at the new jail complex where dogs, picked up after shelter hours, could be housed until the shelter was open but he emphasized there are no plans to defund the Northeast Georgia Animal Shelter.

Hart County Commissioners are in the process of reviewing departmental budget requests for the 2025 fiscal year which begins October 1.

This year, the Northeast Georgia Animal Shelter is requesting funding of just over $126,000 for FY2025 – up from the $83,000 they received this fiscal year.

Partain said he had no problem with their request based on the Shelter Board’s listed needs.

Shelter Board member Sherry Reeve also explained the reason for the budget request increase is based on three main reasons.

Recently, the Department of Agriculture ordered NEGAS to euthanize 25 dogs because of the overcrowded conditions. A campaign was launched to find the dogs homes and all were either adopted or sent to no-kill shelters.

In 2020, the Department of Agriculture also ordered NEGAS to find a way to separate adoptable dogs from dogs not ready for adoption to avoid the issue of disease spreading if a sick dog is turned in.

Since then, NEGAS has been fundraising to build a new adoption center at a cost of over $500,000. That building is almost complete and is expected to open by the end of the year.

Currently, the shelter is again closed due to another outbreak of the deadly parvovirus. Georgia law requires a shelter to close for two weeks to clean and disinfect and to watch for any more outbreaks in other shelter dogs.

During more discussion at the meeting last week, it was noted that for years the County and Shelter had agreed to a standardized formula for how much the county would contribute to operations each year but that in recent years that formula had not been used.

That formula was based on population.

Reeve noted that Hart County has increased in population since the shelter first opened in the late 1990’s from just over 21,000 to over 28,000 yet the shelter board had been going by the original population formula for decades in their funding requests.

It was then suggested that a new, updated funding contract be devised based on the current population for future use before the BOC votes to approve the FY25 budget.

However, Commissioner Joey Dorsey said both Franklin and Hart Counties along with the six municipalities that support the shelter should agree to the revised funding formula first in the form of an intergovernmental agreement.

Sayer responded that the new funding agreement would only be between Hart County and NEGAS and that each county and municipality needs to work out their own respective agreements with the shelter.

Ultimately the Board voted unanimously to direct the County Attorney to come up with a new funding formula contract between Hart County and the Shelter before the FY25 budget is passed.