City of Culver City, California
City Council Agenda Item Report
RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends the City Council (1) review the Culver City Animal Licensing
Program; (2) Discuss the canvassing, (3) Approve an Agreement with the County of
Los Angeles (Department of Animal Care and Control) for shelter and other services;
and (4) Approve Software Maintenance Agreement with Progressive Solutions for
the period July 1, 2007 to June 30, 2010.
Budget Amendment Requires 4/5 Vote
BACKGROUND
On February 26, 2007, the City Council appropriated $20,000 for the purchase of
Animal Licensing Software from Progressive Solutions to accommodate the City’s
new in-house animal licensing program on a trial basis. At that time, the City Council
also adopted a resolution authorizing an animal licensing amnesty program for the
period of April 1, 2007 to June 29, 2007 (the last business day of Fiscal Year
2006/2007).
As discussed at the February 26, 2007 meeting, the purpose of bringing an animal
licensing program in-house was two-fold: (1) to help resolve customer service
issues experienced by Culver City residents under the previous, county-administered
licensing program; and (2) to help determine the revenue stream potential of an in-
house licensing program. Upon conclusion of the amnesty period, the City Council
Meeting Date: 08/27/2007 Item Number: A-1
AGENDA ITEM: Review and Discussion of the Culver City Animal Licensing
Program, Discussion of the Animal Control Program, Approval of an Agreement
with the County of Los Angeles (Department of Animal Care and Control), and
Approval of a Software Maintenance Agreement (for Animal Licensing Software)
with Progressive Solutions.
Contact Person/Dept.: Martin Cole or
Shelly Wolfberg
Phone Number: 310-253-6000
Fiscal Impact: Yes [X] No [] General Fund: Yes [X] No []
Public Hearing: [] Action Item: [X] Attachments: [X]
Public Notification: Master Notification List (08/22/07), Friends of Culver City Animals
(08/22/07)
Department Approval:
Martin R. Cole (8/21/07)
City Manager Approval:
Carol Schwab by Heather S. Iker
(8/22/07)
City Controller Approval:
Marlee Chang (8/22/07)
City Attorney Approval:
Jerry B. Fulwood (8/22/07) City of Culver City, California
City Council Agenda Item Report
directed staff to return to the City Council with the results of operations. For these
reasons, this item is before the City Council this evening.
DISCUSSION
Animal Licensing Program
Since 1998, the City has contracted with the County of Los Angeles (Department of
Animal Care and Control) for animal care and control services, including: Animal
Licensing, Animal Sheltering, and Animal Control (on-street enforcement). To help
address both customer service and revenue realization issues, the City Council
authorized the purchase of animal licensing software from Progressive Solutions in
February, 2007.
Under a very tight schedule, staff worked together with Progressive Solutions, Inc.
and members of the Information Technology Department to bring the in-house
animal licensing software online. One of the critical items toward this effort was the
conversion of the City’s licensure data from the existing database utilized by the
County of Los Angeles. With the data converted, the City was able to begin its in-
house licensing program on April 1, 2007.
As part of the start-up of this program, Staff sent a postcard to every postal address
in the City providing notice of this new program, along with providing advertisement
of two animal licensing clinics where Culver City residents could obtain free
microchips, low-cost vaccination, and renew/obtain animal licenses. The Friends of
Culver City Animals also distributed thousands of flyers advertising the clinic held on
June 16, 2007 (complete with a copy of the animal license application on the back of
the flyer) and also provided volunteers on the day of the clinic. The license clinics
resulted in 211 and 356 licenses issued, respectively. These numbers reflect new
and renewed licenses.
Successes and Challenges
• As reflected on Attachment #1, the City “inherited” 2350 individual license
records from the County of Los Angeles on April 1, 2007. By the end of the
first quarter of operations, the number of individual license records had
increased by 277 to a total of 2627 (or an 11.79% increase).
• The implementation of this new program has been staff-time intensive. A
significant amount of the staff time devoted to this new program is attributed
to the conversion of data, correction of errors in the database, and assisting
residents to comply with the new requirements of licensure (mandatory City of Culver City, California
City Council Agenda Item Report
microchipping and mandatory alteration). As discussed at the February 26,
2007 City Council meeting, a good estimate of the staff time devoted to this
effort is included in the analysis provided in Attachment #1. It is important to
note, once the licensing program has gone through its first year of renewals
(all licenses in the database will have gone through one licensing renewal
period – all data in the database would have been fully updated), staff time for
the licensing function will decrease. An estimate of the second year of
operational costs for licensing only is also included.
• The number of June renewals (557) coupled with the licensing clinics and the
amnesty program required processing of over 1,000 license renewals during
the month of June. This required significant staff time. However, over the
subsequent months, staff has been able to send out almost all licenses
applied for.
Statistical and Fiscal Analyses
Attachments 1 through 6 provide the City Council with statistical data related to the
Culver City Animal Licensing Program and County Animal Control Program. At the
City Council meeting, staff will provide additional verbal comment when presenting
the attachments.
City Council Animal Control Subcommittee
The City Council’s Animal Control Subcommittee (Mayor Corlin and Councilmember
Silbiger) has worked together with staff and the Friends of Culver City Animals to
prepare certain recommendations to the City Council. The Subcommittee’s
recommendations are noted in bold.
Queries and Options
Staff is requesting direction from the City Council on the following items:
(1) Should the City continue to perform licensing duties in-house?
Utilizing the actual data from one quarter of operations of the licensing program
in-house allows staff to provide the City Council with an accurate estimation of
potential revenues and expenditures for an in-house licensing program. Given
this level of income, staff requests the City Council’s direction on whether or not
to continue this program in-house. To perform licensing in-house, the cost will
be $36,000 for a regular part-time position at Administrative Clerk level. It is
anticipated that after April 2008, the in house licensing program will be City of Culver City, California
City Council Agenda Item Report
transferred from the City Manager’s Office. Subcommittee
Recommendation: Continue the in-house licensing program.
(2) Should the City Council determine to continue the in-house licensing program,
then Staff requests the City Council’s direction on the issue of performing a
canvassing program.
As noted in the attachments, using the actual data provided by the County from
the last City-wide canvassing undertaken in FY 02/03, the County was able to
increase licenses issued from 1,900 to 3,900 (an approximate increase in
licenses issues of 100%). To improve compliance with the City’s licensing
laws, staff recommends the City council authorize staff to contract with the
County of Los Angeles in the amount of $20,000, to perform a canvassing
program during the first part of calendar year 2008. Subcommittee
Recommendation: Direct staff to work with County to bring canvassing
proposal to City Council.
(3) Conduct one additional licensing/microchipping/vaccination clinic during the first
quarter of calendar year 2008.
In calendar year 2007, the City (with the cooperation of the County of Los
Angeles) held two licensing/microchipping/vaccination clinics (only one clinic
per year had been held in the past). At these clinics, resident of Culver City
were able to enjoy “one stop shopping.” Pet owners could comply with almost
all facets of Culver City’s dog licensing ordinance in one place by receiving low-
cost vaccination, free microchipping, and licensing (it was not feasible to
provide alteration services at the clinics).
While the clinics in calendar year 2007 were well attended, a successful clinic
involves significant coordination with the County of Los Angeles and numerous
hours of volunteer time (including dedicated City staff members who volunteer
for these events). Additionally, as the licensing program begins to approach
100% licensing compliance, it is expected the number of residents needing to
attend a clinic will decline (as licensing can be accomplished via mail and,
eventually e-mail and through the web).
Staff requests the City Council’s direction on whether or not to attempt to
schedule two clinics during the second half of FY 07/08. Should the City
Council so direct, staff would work together with the County to see if their
available resources would allow scheduling of a second clinic (targeted for late
January/late February). Subcommittee Recommendation: Direct staff to
attempt to schedule two clinics in the second half of Fiscal Year 2007-
2008. City of Culver City, California
City Council Agenda Item Report
(4) Renewal of the Contract with the County of Los Angeles for Animal Control
Field Services and Sheltering.
The City’s contract with the County of Los Angeles expired on June 30, 2007.
However, the County has continued to provide field services and sheltering
under the terms of the former contract until this item could be presented to the
City Council for consideration. As presented to the City Council in January,
2006, the provision of field services and sheltering involve significant
challenges to a smaller agency (like the City of Culver City) to provide in a cost-
efficient manner. High land costs (especially in Culver City) make providing an
in-City shelter very costly (both in land, construction, and ongoing staffing).
With respect to field services, while the majority of field services are provided
during daylight hours, from time to time the need for off-hour services arises.
The estimated costs to provide comprehensive field services were provided to
the City Council in January, 2006. This information is provided as Attachment
#4 for the Council’s ease of reference. Staff recommendation: Approve the
renewal of an agreement with the County of Los Angeles for animal
control field services and sheltering for the five-year period ending June
30, 2012.
(5) Approval of Animal Licensing Software Maintenance Agreement.
Should the City Council determine to continue the in-house licensing program,
then the Software Maintenance Agreement in the amount of $2,600 should be
approved. Staff recommendation: Approve the Animal Licensing
Software Maintenance Agreement.
Subcommittee Comments
Mayor Corlin and Councilmember Silbiger have worked with staff and community
representatives on this issue for over one year. The members of the Sub-Committee
may wish to provide additional comments on the issues provided in this report.
FISCAL ANALYSIS
Currently, the budgeted contract amount with the County of Los Angeles for animal
control field services and sheltering program is $36,000, a detailed fiscal analysis is
provided in the attachments. To summarize:
City of Culver City, California
City Council Agenda Item Report
Without
Canvassing
With
Canvassing
After
Canvassing
Total Gross
Revenues
59,000 87,000 87,000
Total Operating
Expenses
39,000 63,000 63,000
Canvassing Costs
(one-time)
0 20,000 0
Net Program
Income/(Loss)
20,000 (18,000) 24,000
It should be noted, that once canvassing is completed, it is expected the increased
licensing compliance would be retained in future years. Canvassing should be
considered on a periodic basis (once every three to five years) in the case licensing
renewal rates fall.
If approved by the City Council, the following items require a budget amendment:
Regular Part-Time Position $36,000
Annual Software Maintenance Agreement $2,600
Canvassing Program $20,000
TOTAL: $58,600
ATTACHMENTS
1. Staff Report from January, 2006 related to Animal Care and Control
2. Statistical and Financial Analysis of In-House Licensing Program.
MOTION
That the City Council:
1. Direct staff to continue the City’s in-house animal licensing program
2. Direct staff to work with the County of Los Angeles to schedule a canvassing
program during the second half of Fiscal Year 2007/2008 (Jan – Jun 2008)
3. Direct staff to work with the County of Los Angeles to schedule two licensing
clinics during the second half of Fiscal Year 2007/2008 (Jan – Jun 2008).
4. Approve the renewal of the contract with the County of Los Angeles for
animal control field services and sheltering
5. Direct the City Attorney to review the contract with the County and approve as
to form and authorize the City Manager to execute the agreement on behalf of
the City.
6. Approve the software maintenance agreement with Progressive Solutions,
Inc.