- Davis County's new animal shelter plans are scaled back due to $2M budget overrun.
- Rising construction costs and tariffs led to reduced square footage, delaying completion.
- Commissioners debated tax hikes for staffing; shelter overcrowding remains a pressing issue.
FRUIT HEIGHTS — The planned new animal shelter in Davis County is an estimated $2 million over budget, and county officials will scale back the proposal to keep within the original spending plan.
Lane Rose, Davis County's facilities director, cited rising construction costs and the ripple effect of new tariffs placed by the U.S. government on goods entering the country. In staying within the original budget — $14 million for the facility plus another $2.5 million to cover design, permitting, furniture and other related costs — he said the square footage of the replacement structure will be scaled back. Some planned areas of the new building will be "a shell with just framing and no finishes," with an eye to possibly completing them in the future as additional funds become available, he said.
The future of Animal Care of Davis County — which houses stray dogs and cats from across the county — has been the focus of intense debate. Funding for the larger new facility is to come from money the county has saved, though county commissioners approved a property tax hike in last year's budget for animal services to cover the cost of increasing staffing at the facility to better meet demand for services.
That tax hike was also the focus of intense debate and split opinion. Defenders said shelter offerings were insufficient to meet need and demand for services, while detractors had expressed concern with more taxes. The tax bill on an average-valued home — $578,000 — is expected to increase by $12.87 to cover the hike, one element of the overall proposed $331.2 million budget for 2025.
The actual animal control facility, meantime, is too small to contend with the rising number of critters it serves, requiring dogs to be doubled up at times inside kennels, officials have said. The existing facility, completed in 1985, measures 11,000 square feet, and the replacement, at least as originally proposed, was to be nearly three times larger, at 32,000 square feet.
Now the new facility will be smaller than originally envisioned, with construction possibly starting early next year, according to Rose. Officials had hoped to start the work on the grounds of the existing facility in Fruit Heights by late last year.
The future of the animal shelter, given the increased estimated price tag, was the focus of two work sessions in April by Davis County commissioners. Commissioner Lorene Kamalu said the project was scaled back as much as possible without sacrificing needed upgrades to contend with increasing demand for services.
In 2021, the facility took in 3,960 animals, including 1,560 dogs and 1,989 cats, holding each for an average of 14 days. In 2023, the shelter cared for 4,866 critters, including 1,857 dogs and 2,613 cats, for an average of 19 days.
