Revenues and Expenses: Deciphering the Seattle Animal Shelter’s Funding

The Seattle Animal Shelter (SAS) is a government entity. It is housed under the City of Seattle’s Department of Finance and Administrative Services (FAS). 

How does the City of Seattle fund SAS? How does SAS spend its funds?

We submitted public disclosure requests for revenues and expenses from 2018 to 2023. FAS staff was incredibly helpful in answering our resulting questions and seeking additional explanations from City Finance. 

Here is what we learned.

REVENUE

SAS Funds Its Own Operations Through Fees and Donations. Contrary to common belief, SAS is not solely funded by taxpayer dollars through the City of Seattle’s General Fund. The General Fund dollars do play a role, but only to cover the resulting shortfalls when expenses exceed revenues (see Overall Funding Picture below.)

Dog License & Permit Fees are SAS’s Largest Source of Revenue

In 2023, dog license and permit fees comprised about one-third of its generated revenue. In 2019, it was approximately half. 

Private Contributions & Donations Are Funding Government Services

Private contributions and donations are the second largest revenue source for SAS. This fact is reflected in the the recent Seattle Animal Shelter Executive Director job description which includes the following:

Accountabilities

……Direct implementation of fundraising to sustain SAS programs, community involvement and physical space needs.

Well qualified candidates have empowered innovation in service delivery, have successfully raised funds to achieve financial goals and growth, and aligned diverse stakeholders to take collaborative and unified action.

EXPENSES

Indirect Costs Are Not Included In This Section

The City of Seattle has stated in news reports and its Executive Director job posting that SAS has an operating budget of about $7.8 million; however, this number includes indirect costs. (Indirect costs are generally overhead costs distributed through multiple departments) 

Indirect costs are inconsistently represented in SAS published expenses for 2019 to 2023. In response to our question about how best to approach year to year comparison, the City of Seattle’s Office of Finance suggested that we limit ourselves to direct costs and that is what we have done. 

"The accounts beginning with 599 are indirect cost accounts that you can look at separately.  If you want to see relatively consistent direct cost expenditures from 2020 to 2021 and from 2022 to 2023. That would be the way to ensure an apples-to-apples comparison across these years." - Office of City Finance

Labor is SAS’s Largest Direct Cost

SAS’s primary direct costs are for labor. In 2023, labor costs comprised approximately 67 percent of shelter expenses. In 2019, it was almost 70 percent.

SAS has 46 approved full-time positions for a city population of approximately 750,000. Of these positions, 10 are shelter care officers and 15 are field officers, There are two veterinary assistants and two veterinary technicians. The rest of SAS  includes administrative support staff and management.

Animal Care Supplies Are Small Expenditures

Animal food and other care items are quite small expenditures for SAS. In 2023, food and other care items made up about two percent of the total direct costs. In 2019, it was one percent.

OVERALL FUNDING PICTURE

SAS Operates at a Loss

Regardless of whether direct costs, indirect costs, or both are included, SAS expenditures are greater than the revenues it generates. 

SAW Question: The Grand Totals on line 153 appear to show deficits. Do these mean that SAS overspent its revenues? If so, how were the deficits covered or does SAS operate at a loss?

Office of Finance Response: Yes, SAS expenditures are greater than the revenues it collects. SAS is supported by the City’s General Fund, and General Fund revenues are what cover the difference between SAS revenues and expenditures. There are many revenue sources for the General Fund, but the largest ones are property taxes, sales taxes, and business and occupation taxes.

Below are two tables. One shows the shortfall using only direct costs while the second includes the indirect costs mentioned above. Both show shortfalls with the amounts varying depending on the costs included.