What you need to know
Discussion surrounding the need for a new animal shelter arose following a renewed effort to create a road and infrastructure bond issue for 2024. On May 21, the county approved a contract with ACGM to provide preliminary cost estimates for a new animal shelter.
According to court documents, the county is seeking information on two options for a new animal shelter that were identified in a needs assessment done in 2023 by design firm PGAL.
Option 1: $84 million
- 100,854 square feet
- Capacity for 462 dogs and 205 cats
- 49,950 square feet
- Capacity for 190 dogs and 100 cats
“We have already gotten the PGAL [study] to give us information on what it would cost to put together our animal shelter; needless to say, it’s astronomical,” Montgomery County Judge Mark Keough said.
What’s next?
ACGM will provide an additional cost assessment for the county, which is expected to take up to a month to complete, according to the letter from ACGM to the county.
The prospect of building a new animal shelter was brought up during bond discussions on April 9 as commissioners worked on assembling a list of new road and infrastructure bond needs. On the infrastructure side, a new animal shelter was listed as a top priority for the county alongside a new tax office and county courthouse.
Keough said during the May 21 meeting that bond discussions had been postponed until June to allow the Montgomery County Tax Office to compile more accurate tax rate and property growth numbers to understand the impact of different bond options on taxpayers.
