Animal care and control fees in Cold Lake will see a rise in 2025 after council unanimously approved the adjustments.
The fee increases align with the city’s broader strategy to implement a 2.5 precent increase across all municipal fees, reflecting inflation and rising costs outlined in the 2025 operating budget.
The adjustments, finalized after three bylaw readings, were introduced by Kristi Isert, the city’s general manager of Corporate Services. She explained the rationale behind the changes saying, “We’ve got an amendment to the Animal Care and Control Bylaw in order to implement for 2025 what council has directed as a slight increase to all the city’s fees across the board.”
Efforts were made to balance practicality and precision, aiming for approximately a 2.5 percent increase. The approach also involved rounding the numbers to ensure they were practical and avoided the need to deal with minor amounts like pennies.
Changes include, increasing basic license fees for dogs and cats from $75 to $77.50, increasing reduced rate for spayed or neutered animals from $20 to $20.50, increasing vicious animal license fee from $250 to $260, the replacement licenses will remain unchanged at $10, the impound daily care fees are rising from $20 to $21, and the impound animal intake fees are increasing from $60 to $62.
To ensure there is enough time to send out renewal notices for the licenses, Isert recommended that the council consider giving the first, second, consent for third, and final reading of the bylaw during the meeting.
Council agreed and passed all required motions, finalizing the adjustments for the upcoming year.
