Flagler County Government Favors Merging Animal Control with Palm Coast, Ending Humane Society Contract

Flagler County government is working toward consolidating animal control services with those of Palm Coast. That would sever part of the county’s $300,000 contract with the Flagler Humane Society, which currently provides those services to the county.

The Flagler County Commission and the Palm Coast City Council in a joint meeting on Wednesday did not make a decision to that end, but agreed by consensus to draft a joint agreement (or ILA, an interlocal agreement) that would define the scope and cost of the services Palm Coast would provide.

The direction is a reflection of the county’s unease with the Humane Society. It would not end either the county’s or the city’s contracts with the society for sheltering services. The two governments are also discussing plans to open a shelter independent of the Humane Society, but that’s over a horizon no one can yet see.

The county had been discussing contracting for animal services with Palm Coast for months, but with little hard data. Palm Coast Code Enforcement Manager Barbara Grossman, whose 27 employees include three animal control officers, provided that data at the joint meeting.

Palm Coast’s officers cover three zones in the city’s nearly 100 square miles. The estimated startup cost to provide county animal control services would be $529,000 in the first year, $377,000 in the second year, rising 5 percent every year after that, to $477,000 by 2031. The legal costs account for over $80,000 of that in the first year, which might be out of kilter with the county’s current legal costs. “The cost is quite minimal,” Deputy County Attorney Sean Moylan said. “We don’t have enough cases.”

Those numbers are based on hiring two animal control officers and an animal control technician, buying two vehicles that last about seven years each, plus additional overhead.

Based on Humane Society figures, between October 2024 and March 2025, there were 6,819 animals taken in by the society from Palm Coast for a half dozen reasons (surrendered, seized, strayed and so on), and just 1,063 were turned in from unincorporated Flagler County.

“It doesn’t seem two new animal control officers are needed,” Council member Theresa Pontieri said, if the county’s needs were added to the city’s. “I can see definitely one more,” plus a technician. If the numbers demand it, more staff could be added subsequently, she said.

The ILA would itemize the expenses, enabling the city to bill the county periodically. It would be actual costs–not a split of services, though the city is likely to have what officials called “residual” benefits from seeing its animal control division expand. For example, it might diminish the number of times its animal control officers would have to be on call.

“Personally I think the way to go is to have one animal control group, because it takes a lot of money, a lot of training, a lot of capability,” Council member Dave Sullivan said. The operation should include all the cities and the county, including Flagler Beach and Bunnell, he said. But the Bunnell and the Flagler Beach city managers “we talked to were happy with the service they were receiving,” County Administrator Heidi Petito said.

None of the county commissioners discussed costs or raised objections to the presentation: Pontieri asked more questions than her county colleagues. She was interested in defraying some of the costs. Licensing and fines bring in some money, but not much. Grossman says increasing licensing costs could offset sheltering costs at the Flagler Humane Society (for which the city pays $90,000 a year). It would not offset animal control costs. Raising licensing charges would be a council decision. “The licensing fee has not gone up ever,” Grossman said. “It’s always been $5 for your spayed or neuter, and $10 if not altered.”

The next step would be the joint agreement between Palm Coast and the county that would, in Grossman’s summary, “define the scope of services and response responsibilities between the city and the county, formalize the cost sharing model, terms and performance expectations, identify legal representation for county related enforcement cases, staffing and resource planning, hire and on board to additional animal control officers.”

“We will get back together as a full board to talk about our options,” Commission Chair Andy Dance said, and “finalize a decision,” but based on the more limited scope–one animal control officer, one tech, one vehicle, which would lower start-up costs by over $150,000.

The $300,000 the county currently pays the Humane Society covers both sheltering and animal control services–specifically, $215,000 for animal control and $106,000 for sheltering, according to the county administrator. The county would end only the animal control portion if it is to merge with Palm Coast.