Kane County wants to hike after-hours stray pickup fee
Kane County Animal Control Administrator Brett Youngsteadt is proposing to raise the fee charged when a warden has to go out on a call after normal business hours to pick up stray animals.
The current $25 fee is not covering the cost of paying overtime, he told the county board's public health committee Wednesday. He is proposing to raise it to $150.
Raising it would also encourage police departments in those towns to call earlier in the day, he said. Especially because Youngsteadt is offering to reduce the daytime pickup fee.
Animal Control's normal work hours are 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays during the winter, and until 8 p.m. in the summer. Weekends, nights and holidays are treated as overtime hours.
Youngsteadt is proposing the after-hours fee hike as he negotiates a new service contract with the Metro West Council of Government association. Metro West is negotiating fees on behalf of participating towns which use Kane County's services.
The department has three wardens. Youngsteadt said that in 2015, overtime costs amounted to about $20,000. And his numbers were only for overtime calls on nights, weekends and holidays, not for emergency calls between midnight and 7 a.m. The county charges more for emergency calls.
The average overtime call to pick up an animal takes 4.63 hours, including the time a warden spends driving to the call from their home, he said.
Overtime pay is one-and-a-half times the regular hourly pay rate.
Youngsteadt said he has been told police departments sometimes hang on to strays until early evening, in case an owner is at work and doesn't know their dog or cat has escaped.
Carpentersville, Huntley, Elgin and Aurora do not use the county's animal control service and shelter. Huntley contracts with McHenry County. Aurora has its own shelter, and Elgin uses an animal hospital in Schaumburg.
The county first negotiated a contract with Metro West in 2013, and it has been extended twice.