Cost of animal license to increase in Jackson
BY DAVE BENJAMIN
Staff Writer

JACKSON - It may be "ruff" for some animal owners, but animal license fees for dogs and other animals are on the rise.

An amended ordinance, if adopted at the Township Council's meeting on April 24, will raise the fees for dog and other animal licenses by $3, effective immediately.

In Jackson, a person applying for an annual license and registration fee will now pay the township a total of $11.70 for each dog, if paid prior to March 31 of the year. The fee includes a $1 registration tag fee and a 20-cent pilot clinic fund fee.

If the animal's owner pays the required fee after April 1, a $5 late fee will be added per license.

The owner of a dog that has been spayed or neutered will have the annual fee reduced by $3.

The registration tag fee ($1), the pilot clinic fund fee (20 cents) and the non-neutered animal fee ($3) all are turned over by the township to the state Department of Health within 30 days.

All registrations and tags must be renewed annually, the ordinance states, unless a three-year license has been purchased for a fee of three times the annual fee.

License tags must be renewed prior to or upon expiration of the license and registration tag.

"We did our homework," township Business Administrator William Santos said. "[We found out that] the fees haven't been raised for more than 20 years. The fees needed adjustment."

Santos said that with the help of the mayor and council, he is reviewing Jackson's operations and looking for places to make adjustments.

"We're really trying to recover the costs associated with particular services to the extent that we can by law," he said.

Santos said it's not only the license in this case, it is also the services associated with having animals in the community.

"We have an animal control officer full-time and two more that are part-time," he said. "There are services we provide to the community, making sure people have licenses, making sure the animal is properly vaccinated, and when there is a stray dog, we pick that animal up."

The business administrator said the increase in the fees is being made more to offset the costs than anything else.

"We're not looking to make money," he said. "Like anything else, if you're using a program, you should contribute to its operation. Will we get 100 percent back? No, but we're trying to get some [of the costs] back."

In a letter to Mayer Mark Seda and the council, animal control officer Joe Sbano said the fees being paid by Jack-son residents are $3 less than what is being paid in most towns.

Sbano's Feb. 3 letter said the animal control officers are canvassing the township to find unlicensed animals and had already discovered 150 unlicensed dogs. With more than 1,000 streets in Jackson there could be more than 10,000 unlicensed animals in town, which could add up to about $75,000 in fees, he said.

"We would be happy with half of that," Sbano said in the letter.

In a letter to all mayors, New Jersey State League of Municipalities Executive Director William G. Dressel Jr. said recent legislation signed by Gov. Jon Corzine authorizes municipalities to increase dog license fees to a maximum of $21.

Township Clerk Ann Marie Eden said Jackson's dog and animal licensing ordinance was originally adopted in 1972 and the last amendment changing the fee scale was adopted in 1982. She said the state notified municipal officials that they could increase the fees.