A spokesperson for Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The previous agreement expired Jan. 1. The county continued answering animal control calls in Atlanta for three months “in good faith” while talks continued, he said.
“But we cannot continue to do so. Therefore as of today … responsibility for animal services within the city of Atlanta will revert to the city of Atlanta,” Pitts said.
County Manager Dick Anderson said calls from within Atlanta will be routed to the city’s 911 center, which knows they’re coming. Atlanta police will likely be tasked with responding, he said.
At their March 20 meeting, commissioners voted to cut off animal control to Atlanta on April 3 if the city didn’t respond. County Attorney Y. Soo Jo told commissioners that providing service without a contract left the county open to legal liability.
Pitts said the county will be glad to reconsider the cutoff as soon as an agreement is signed.
Atlanta received the new agreement in October, and all 14 other cities in the county signed similar major cost increases, Pitts said.
It’s unfair to ask residents of all the other cities in Fulton County to subsidize services in Atlanta, which accounts for 55% of animal calls, Pitts said.
Through a contract with nonprofit LifeLine Animal Services, the county provides animal control countywide. Though costs have risen, the charges to cities hadn’t gone up in five or six years.
The county is not passing on any of the cost of its new, $40 million animal shelter to cities in the agreements, and neither Fulton County nor LifeLine is profiting from animal control, Pitts said.
“These costs reflect only the true cost of service,” Pitts said.
Commissioner Dana Barrett, whose district includes much of Atlanta, said the county had no choice. In months of talks the city angled for a discount, which she called “shocking and disappointing.” That included asking for free real estate, and more money for…
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