Pima Animal Care Bond Construction Progress

There are times when keeping up with the needs of an expanding population can outstrip the ability of a governmental jurisdiction to “pay as you go.”

Governments or districts sell bonds to investors and use the revenue to fund capital improvement projects such as libraries, community centers and public health facilities. In this case, those revenues would fund an animal shelter.

When used responsibly, bonds allow a jurisdiction to get started on major projects now, and pay them back over a longer period of time, much like homeowners typically pay a mortgage instead of buying a home with cash up front.

General obligation bonds are paid back with secondary property taxes.

Yes. Aside from the regular oversight provided by the Bond Advisory Committee, an Arizona Auditor General's office audit of Pima County's 1997, 2004 and 2006 general obligation bond programs found that Pima County’s bond funds were used for the purposes the voters authorized.

The audit also found the programs followed the approval process for any necessary changes and the programs benefited residents all over Pima County in similar proportion to the taxes paid.

The full Auditor General's report can be found here.

Accountability and transparency are extremely important to us.

The Board of Supervisors will be adopting a Bond Implementation Plan that will provide detailed descriptions of the projects that will be built if voters approve a bond program in an election.

The Bond Implementation Plan Ordinance must be completed, approved and available to voters before a bond election.

In the case of long-term projects, there are occasional changes in scope, costs or benefits that arise. Before any bond implementation plan can be changed, there must be a public hearing before the 25-member Bond Advisory Committee and the Pima County Board of Supervisors similarly must approve the amendments at a public hearing.

Please visit our Commitment to the Community page to learn more.

Since the 1997 bond election, Pima County’s capital improvement program, which is largely funded with bonds, has created an estimated 23,500 local jobs.

A: The Pima Animal Care Center was built in 1968 for 300 dogs and 100 cats. It originally held pets until they were claimed. Unclaimed pets were euthanized in a matter of days. PACC’s mission has since changed to one of adoption and staff accept all pets presented for care.  A new PACC is also needed because the existing facility’s design isn’t conducive to the mental and physical well being of our pets.

A: PACC’s daily population is around 800. Another 500 pets are in foster care. PACC receives roughly 25,000 cats and dogs annually, or about 400 a week on average.

You may have heard that Pima Animal Care Center is our county’s only open-admission shelter. This means we take in every lost, injured and unwanted pet who comes to our doors – regardless of whether the person bringing the pet to us can pay a fee.

A: Over-crowding can allow diseases to spread more easily, it is stressful to the animals, which can lower their immune systems, and it can lead to fights that cause injury. 

A: The County erected a semi-permanent 120 X 60 foot tent to hold 100 kennels and ease over-crowding in March 2014. The county has also improved its adoption program, formed more partnerships with rescue organizations, and expanded veterinary care and behavioral rehabilitation. The tent is temporary and has lighting, heating, cooling and sanitation deficiencies. 

A: Yes. Since 2008, PACC’s live-release rate has doubled from about 45 percent to just under 90 percent. Nevertheless, the facility remains over-crowded because keeping an animal until it is adopted means the average length of stay per animal has increased. 

A: Officials estimate $15 million will be used for the construction of the new facility. The remaining $7 million is allocated for the purchase of furniture and equipment, design/engineering fees, Pima County administrative/project management expenses, and other miscellaneous costs.

A: The current plan reflects a total gross interior floor area of just over 63,000 sqft. More than 95 percent of this total area is allocated to functions that directly house or support the housing and adoption of animals at PACC. For comparison, the existing building is more or less 39,000 sqft.

A: Work to prepare the site for construction will continue through 2016, with a groundbreaking for major construction tentatively planned for December 2016.

A: Completion of Construction is currently scheduled for late 2017. Most of 2016 will involve developing and documenting the design and the focus of 2017 will be on construction.

A: Pima County Facilities Management Projects typically take three years to complete.  It usually takes several months to hire the design consultant, one year to design, and 10 to 18 months to build.  Recent examples include the Crisis Response Center, The Regional Wastewater and Reclamation Lab, and the Wheeler-Taft Library. Much input has been sought from the public on the design to make sure Pima County builds the shelter the county and the public want and need. A slightly smaller animal shelter than the one planned for PACC just opened last year in Denver. It took 2.5 years to design and build. New PACC is currently on a similar timeline. 

A: The Pima Animal Care Center will remain open for business throughout construction of the new PACC.

A: The quantity of feline housing units will increase from 150 in the current facility to 200 in the new facility and be designed to minimize stress on cats (which can decrease illness in the shelter environment). Planned housing unit quantities for cats are based off of the UC Davis Koret Shelter Medicine Program’s recommendations after analyzing PACC’s operations along with historic, current, and anticipated future intake numbers.

A: Current plans for the new PACC nearly triple the area dedicated to cat housing, with approx. 3,120 ft2 compared to ±1,258 ft2 in current facility.

A: The quantity of canine housing units will increase from 285 in the current facility to 431 in the new facility, the majority of which are planned to be indoor/outdoor type. Many of the dog runs in the existing facility are not sub-dividable or do not have outdoor portions. Housing unit quantities for dogs are based off of Koret SMP’s recommendations after analyzing PACC’s operations along with historic, current, and anticipated future intake numbers.

A: Phase one will primarily construct the new portions of the facility east of the existing building, which will remain in operation and open to the public. Upon completion, animals, staff, and the public will be able to use the new buildings and the remodel/partial demolition of the existing facility (phase two) will begin.

No - the tent and surrounding fence will be removed as part of the new PACC project.

A: The top priority of the new PACC is to create a design that provides for animal health and wellness with maximum efficiency and effectiveness while meeting taxpayer expectations regarding value and fiscal responsibility. A facility that is new, welcoming, and reflective of PACC’s mission to provide the best care possible (even in the remodeled portions) will improve public perception even further and lead to increased adoptions.

A: Renovating parts of the existing facility will allow the project to meet the housing recommendations and other functional requirements, while conserving funds and physical resources (sustainability) and delivering maximum value to the taxpayers of Pima County.

A: This alternative was considered carefully during the concept development, and existing cat housing spaces will be renovated to house human-use functions such as the Shelter Supervisor’s Office and Volunteer Break Room. For the main-floor dog housing spaces, however, adjacencies (or separation of like functions) created by using this space for offices, et cetera would create inefficiencies that would negatively affect PACC’s operations and the flow of animals through the facility.

A: No - the design prioritizes high-quality and appropriately-sized housing facilities in the required quantities for PACC’s animal population and throughout the conceptual design, reductions were made to human-use spaces in order to reinforce this priority. Less than 5% of the total building area is allocated to functions that do not directly house or support the housing and adoption of animals at PACC (spaces such as administration offices, mechanical rooms, or rest rooms).