MONTGOMERY, Alabama?--?Representatives from the Montgomery Humane Society addressed the work session of the newly seated county commission yesterday morning, asking for desperately needed additional funds.
Last year, the nonprofit organization finished with about $50,000 debt and this year is on track to match or exceed that figure if additional funding is not found.
MHS Board President Gary Williams, Vice President Junie Pierce III, and Treasurer Glenda Easterling told the commission just how desperate the situation is. The society has approximately 35 employees, most of who work for barely above minimum wage. MHS also has a group of volunteers -- like Williams, Pierce, and Easterling -- who donate their time and money to help run the shelter.
?I?m afraid to even go back there,? Pierce said stressing the difficult task workers at the shelter are faced with daily. ?They have to euthanize around 25-35 animals a day.?
?Right now, we?re operating on 2004 level funding while operating expenses for us to be able to only comply to state laws have gone up sharply,? Executive Director Stephen Tears said in a phone interview with al.com.
Pierce told the commission that the shelter currently has only $2,000 in their account and Easterling said that with the budget they have right now, they are forced to delay repaying vendors just to meet payroll.
MHS is funded partially by the city of Montgomery, the county, donors and fundraising events; but has been struggling after cuts resulting from the economic downturn in the second half of the previous decade.
According to the memo provided to the commissioners by the shelter, the county gave MHS $500,000 during the 2008 and 2009 fiscal years, but cut that amount by 25 percent in 2010. After pleading their case to the commission, MHS won back 12 ? percent, reaching a total of $437,500 annually from the county that is distributed quarterly.
Although the city of Montgomery has animal control units of their own, they did not have to cut their funding of the shelter three years ago and gave a 3 percent cost of living increase last year. This year the city gave the same amount as the previous year.
Although funding for MHS has been reduced over the years, the price of veterinary care has gone up significantly -- the medication and supplies to keep the animals healthy at the shelter -- and to comply with state laws such as spay and neuter to prepare them for adoption.
One of the shelter?s primary jobs is to enforce all animal cruelty laws for both the city and the county and operate stray holding facilities for all the unwanted animals. According to Tears, one of their biggest expenses is holding animals as evidence for animal cruelty cases, providing them with veterinary care, shelter, and upkeep for the time it takes to prosecute the violators in court. Each case can add up to $10-20,000.
The shelter thought they would be able to sustain such a lean budget, but realized that barely meeting payroll will drive them further into debt. MHS came to the commission saying that they exhausted every foreseeable source of revenue.
?We?ve always been able to stretch our dollars because we?re really a no-fat organization,? Tears told al.com. ?We don?t have any fluff and we?ve always been straight forward with the county commission and they have always seen that.?
The commissioners were receptive to the situation, but due to their own lack of funds and flat revenue, were unsure how much they were able to give. They also realized that such a decision would require a formal session to allocate additional funding since the commission?s budget for the year is already set. The commissioners agreed to advance MHS the amount that was allocated to them for the upcoming quarter so the commission could have additional time to deliberate on the amount they can add to MHS?s budget.
When the commissioners asked MHS representatives of how much they needed, they responded that the situation was so dire that they would take any amount.
?Whatever they can do to help us at this point, we recognize the fact that it?s real tight for everybody, but ideally we?d like to get back to where we were three years ago,? Tears said later that day.
Tears said that the ideal amount would be $67,000, but realizes that it probably can?t be done this year.
The commission brainstormed to see if they can help MHS find additional revenue streams. District 5 commissioner, Reed Ingram, asked the representatives whether MHS provides services to the new city of Pike Road, and whether the city has begun contributing.
The representatives replied that they did provide services to Pike Road, but so far have not received funds from the municipality.
Ingram then suggested that the commission should help MHS meet with Pike Road officials and negotiate some kind of deal to pay for the services MHS provides in the area.
?We have a good working relationship with Pike Road and they are usually open to work with us,? Ingram said. ?It would be better for them to be a partner [with MHS] than to open their own.?
Having its population pass 5,000 residents, Pike Road recently became a municipality of their own and is now in the process of creating ordinances required of a city. It is legally required to have an animal control ordinance. According to MHS, the city has not yet gotten to it.
Ingram and the commission agreed that they will schedule a meeting between them, MHS and Pike Road officials to discuss the issue.
The commission also placed the advancing of 2nd quarter funds on their agenda for their next meeting on Nov. 30.
Despite financial hardships, Tears has confidence the commission and his organization can work out a deal, even if it is not for the whole amount this year. He also expressed confidence in his overstretched staff.
?We have a good core group of people that are willing to do whatever it takes,? Tears said. ?I?d put my team against any shelter across the country and I think we would win hands down.?
?In efficiency and willingness to go above and beyond, they don?t really get the recognition they need but they?re doing it for little or no pay. They?re really in the business of saving lives and really behind our mission; they?re just a great team.?
Source: http://blog.al.com/montgomery/2012/11/montgomerymontgomery_humane_so.html
tim ferriss wmt human nature arkansas football blackhawks howard johnson levon helm
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.