Atlanta’s failure to sign an agreement with Fulton County means animal control services will be suspended in the city as of 5 p.m. today, April 5.
“Despite months of discussions and ongoing good faith efforts on the part of Fulton County, the City of Atlanta still has not provided a signed inter-governmental agreement to Fulton County for animal services as of this afternoon,” Fulton County Commission Chair Robb Pitts said.
All calls for animal services within the city limits will be directed to Atlanta, he said during a media briefing on Friday.
County Manager Dick Anderson said any calls coming to the county’s number would be routed to the Atlanta 911 center. He said he believed the Atlanta Police Department would respond to the calls.
Fulton has provided animal control services for Atlanta for three months without an agreement, but that can’t continue because of the liabilities it creates, Pitts said. He also said that the county provided the services since Jan. 1 based on the promise that Atlanta would sign the agreement.
The county is not able to provide the services to the city without a signed agreement by state law, County Commissioner Dana Barrett said. Pitts said the county attorney advised them not to provide the services without that agreement.
Pitts said it is unfair to taxpayers in the 14 other cities within Fulton County to subsidize services for Atlanta, which he said is the greatest user of animal control services with 55% of all calls. Fulton’s share of the costs was calculated to be $6 million. Sandy Springs is paying approximately $400,000 annually as its share of the $9.08 million contract for animal control services.
Fulton County paid for the entire cost of a new animal shelter in Atlanta to replace a facility that had been in use for 40 years and had been cited by the Georgia Department of Agriculture, Pitts said.
The charges to Atlanta and the other cities are a pass-through to pay for the…
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