Receive update on the Yolo Animal Services Planning Agency JPA efforts and on current operations of Yolo County Animal Services. (No general fund impact) (Rinde/Van Hoosear)

Receive update on the Yolo Animal Services Planning Agency JPA efforts and on current operations of Yolo County Animal Services.

Safe Communities

Background
 
In 2013 a Yolo County Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCo) and UC Davis Koret Shelter Medicine Program study found the Yolo County Animal Shelter to be “inadequate, outdated and compromising the program’s ability to adequately serve the community”.  Additionally, it identified the establishment of an animal shelter joint powers agency (JPA) as a means to provide participating jurisdictions with increased control over budget and operational decision making.
 
In the Fall of 2018 representatives of the County, cities of Davis, Woodland, Winters, and West Sacramento, and UC Davis (“Animal Shelter Working Group”) held two joint meetings to gather information on the status of the Yolo Animal Shelter and determine next steps for action. The recommendation from these meetings was for each jurisdiction’s governing board to approve moving forward with the first phase of JPA development, and to receive a check-in from staff at each transition point in the phases. The suggested phases of JPA development included: 

1. Governance Model: Outlining the charge, scope and governance structure of the JPA, including powers, membership, bylaws and voting structure.
2. Strategic Planning: JPA Initial Formation/Planning (Develop shared vision, mission, goals, objectives and strategic plan).
3. JPA Operational Model: This phase assumes the JPA Board successfully completes the Strategic Planning phase, and continues to move forward.  Here the JPA would consider operational models, staffing, and program options; allowing for updated financial projections before moving forward to consider facility options. 

On February 26, 2019 the Board received a shelter update and directed staff to move forward with the first phase of developing and implementing a JPA: defining the initial charge, scope and governance structure, including powers, membership, bylaws and voting structure.
 
On September 19, 2019 the Animal Shelter Working Group met to discuss the governance structure. The County and four cities, in consultation with UC Davis, ultimately agreed to continue to move forward with the initial formation of a JPA that includes “on” and “off-ramps” for agencies to leave the agreement, or buy-in at a later date.  The Animal Shelter Working Group participants agreed that the JPA start as a planning agency only, and that the operational and program options be studied first, before proceeding to consideration of facility options.

There are no preconceived plans regarding any type of program model, facility or otherwise.
 
On February 25, 2020, the Board approved the Yolo Animal Services Planning Agency (“YASPA”) JPA agreement.  The City of Winters also approved the YASPA agreement in February 2020, and the city councils of Davis and Woodland both approved the agreement in August 2020. 
 
Current and Planned YASPA Activities
 
The first meeting of the YASPA JPA took place on October 1, 2020, and a total of nine meetings have taken place to date. 
 
The current JPA work plan includes the following phases:  

1. Establish baseline understanding of current state (October 2021 – February 2022): Reviewing current cost allocation methodology, expenses, and service levels.
2. Develop a Strategic Plan (Vision, Mission, Goals, Objectives) (March 2022 – May 2022): Agreeing upon shared goals for supporting the people and animals of Yolo County. 
3. Create a plan for moving forward (June 2022 – September 2022): Determining options and estimated costs for desired changes in service levels and/or shelter renovation/construction

At the February 24, 2022 meeting, YASPA members received the last in a series of staff presentations to establish a baseline understanding of Yolo County Animal Services’ current costs, contract cost allocation methodology, and service levels. County staff will be coordinating with each contract jurisdiction to make presentations on YASPA’s efforts to date at council meetings in March and April 2022.
 
YASPA members will next develop a strategic plan that will guide development of an operational model for animal services in Yolo County.
 
Once an operational model is agreed upon, additional phases of the YASPA JPA might include: 

1. Shelter Location
2. Shelter Design
3. Financing
4. Budget
5. Implementation of an operational JPA 

Overview of Current Yolo County Animal Services Costs and Service Levels
 
Yolo County Animal Services (YCAS) is a section of the Yolo County Sheriff’s Office and provides animal control and sheltering services to the unincorporated areas of the County, as well as the contract jurisdictions of Davis, West Sacramento, Winters, Woodland, and the property of the University of California at Davis.
 
In Fiscal Year 2020-21, Yolo County Animal Services (YCAS) had an Adopted expenditure budget of approximately $3 million and final actual expenditures of about $2.8 million.  Actual expenditures were lower than budgeted primarily due to impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic (staffing vacancies, supply chain issues, closures, etc.).  Per the contracts with the participating jurisdictions, any unspent portion of revenues resulting from unanticipated animal services savings is placed in an “Animal Services Trust” for future shelter projects, animal service equipment and/or replacement items. 
 
Based on the Fiscal Year (“FY”) 2020-21 Adopted budget, Yolo County has an approximate per capita cost of $14 for animal services.  While it is difficult to make comparisons to other jurisdictions due to the unique combination of public and nonprofit providers in each community, staff determined Yolo County’s per capita expenditures were comparable to those of County of Sacramento ($14) and County of Solano ($13).
 
Over the past 5 completed fiscal years (FY 2016-17 through FY 2020-21), YCAS’ expenditure budget increased by approximately 20 percent (compared to inflation over the same period of around 13 percent).  Primary drivers of cost increases included:

• Professional and Services Contract costs (including the contract for on-site veterinary services with UC Davis) increased 118%, from $246K to $534K.
  • Starting in Fiscal Year 2019-20, three Registered Veterinary Technician positions went from being employed by the County to being covered under the UCD veterinary services contract.  The increase in the cost of the vet services contract was more than offset by salary savings.
• Insurance/General and Auto Liability costs increased 199% (from $21K to $61K).
• Household Expenses (e.g., disinfectants, cleaning supplies, etc.) increased 178% (from $18K to $51K).

 
Costs for YCAS are allocated to each participating jurisdiction (including the County) based on the YCAS Recommended budget, further divided into 35 percent “fixed” costs and 65 percent "variable" costs.
 
The “fixed” costs are allocated based on the following fixed percentages:

• 95 percent of total fixed costs are split evenly by Yolo County and the cities of Davis, West Sacramento, and Woodland.
• The remaining 5 percent is split evenly between the City of Winters and UC Davis.

 
The remaining 65 percent of annual budgeted costs are allocated to each jurisdiction based on a rolling 3-year average of each jurisdiction’s actual calls for service and animal intakes into the County’s shelter.
 
For the current Fiscal Year (2021-22), contract costs were allocated as follows:



Starting with the FY 2021-22 contracts, each participating jurisdiction is billed for the contract amounts shown above, net of a credit for actual revenues collected by YCAS on behalf of each jurisdiction (including licensing and adoption fees).
 
In terms of actual service levels, YCAS experienced a drop in animal intakes and calls for service over the past 5 completed fiscal years.  Mirroring nationwide trends, YCAS saw a single year drop in animal intakes of 25.8 percent between FY 2018-19 and 2019-20 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.  In future years, animal intakes are expected to rebound due to pandemic recovery as well as pandemic-related shortages in spay/neuter services.  In FY 2020-21, YCAS took in 3,334 live animals of all species (compared to 4,503 in FY 2016-17).
 
As defined by the nonprofit Shelter Animals Count, an animal sheltering organization’s “Live Release Rate” (“LRR”) is calculated by dividing live outcomes (i.e., adoptions, return to owner, transfer out and return to field) by total outcomes.  For FY 2020-21, YCAS had an overall LRR of 90 percent, with a dog LRR of 95 percent and a cat LRR of 87 percent.  Staff found this was a more favorable LRR than many other local entities. 
 
Most notably, staff found that animals entering the YCAS shelter were significantly more likely than the national average to be returned to their owners.  Specifically, 71 percent of dogs and 6 percent of cats entering the YCAS shelter were returned to their owners.  According to the Shelter Animals Count 2020 Animal Sheltering Statistics, the national averages were 17.4 percent for dogs and 2.5 percent for cats.

Conclusion
As previously stated the goal of this staff report and related presentation was to provide a baseline understanding for the current state of animal services and ensure all participating jurisdictions have a common understanding of the existing operation. This is crucial as the JPA enters the next phase which will be the development of a strategic plan which will be focused on finding a common vision, goals and objectives of the organization as we move into the future. After that phase, we anticipate another update to participating jurisdictions.

Staff would then explore in the subsequent phase options to implement the vision that is agreed upon.

This information has been presented to the Yolo Animal Services Planning Agency JPA, and the staff report has been coordinated with the Yolo County Sheriff's Office.  County staff will be offering similar presentations to the governing bodies of each jurisdiction that contracts with Yolo County Animal Services for animal control and sheltering services.