Atlanta City Council moves to revive animal services agreement with Fulton County

ATLANTA - Fulton County Animal Control Services may soon be servicing the city of Atlanta again, following the severance of relations earlier this month. 

On Monday, the Atlanta City Council approved a resolution that enables Mayor Andre Dickens to execute a five-year intergovernmental agreement with Fulton County Government. 

It was a vote that raised questions Monday afternoon as city leaders weighed the triple cost of Fulton County’s animal control services against millions of dollars in unpaid water bills. 

"I think taxpayers should ask themselves…what service is Fulton County providing you," Councilman Dustin Hillis said. 

"Given the delinquency of such severe water bills, the city of Atlanta never once considered making a show of it," Councilwoman Liliana Bakhtiari added. 

After almost an hour of discussion about who owes who, city leaders passed a resolution authorizing an agreement with the county to continue animal control operations. 

"We also introduced an ordinance to approve the agreement which will go through committee over the next two weeks and be approved on May the 6th," Atlanta City Councilman Michael Bond said. 

Bond said in his 30 years on council, he hasn’t seen this level of tension between the city and county before but hopes both sides will come together and set aside any differences. 

"They’re basically refusing to raise their millage rate after however many years and passing the buck onto cities," Hillis said at Monday’s meeting. 

Earlier this month, Fulton County, citing a breakdown in negotiations, decided to withdraw services from the city of Atlanta. 

Fulton County had asked all cities within its jurisdiction to increase their contributions to help pay for the program as costs rise. Under the proposed agreement, Atlanta’s contribution would have jumped from $2 million to over $6 million, reflecting the surging expenses in animal care and medical services. 

All cities in Fulton County were informed about changes to the service in July 2023. Three months later, the county dispatched the new agreements. By January, every city except Atlanta had signed on. 

Despite a strict deadline for Atlanta to comply by April 3, the city had not finalized the agreement by that date. . 

In response, the city of Atlanta issued a statement accusing county leaders of backtracking on a preliminary agreement due to political reasons, possibly linked to a statement made by Mayor Andre Dickens concerning the recent deaths at the Fulton County Jail. The city criticized the county's decision as politically motivated and a risk to the safety of its residents, highlighting the county's overdue water bills totaling $5.7 million.  

READ THE MAYOR'S STATEMENT HERE 

Animal control services in the city of Atlanta could be restored as soon as Wednesday. The money to cover it will come from the city’s general fund. 

FOX 5 reached out to Fulton County officials for comment on this, but there were no immediate comments.