MOOSE JAW — A higher minimum wage has forced the Moose Jaw Humane Society to ask for more funding from city council for 2025 and could lead to a renegotiation of their 25-year contract.
Dana Haukaas, the Humane Society’s executive director, along with Benji, a terrier-poodle cross, presented the organization’s 2025 budget request during a special budget meeting for third-party community groups on Nov. 27.
The animal organization wants $285,006 in funding for next year, an increase of $15,091 from this year. It’s also requesting $15,000 for its spay and neuter program.
In her letter to council, Haukaas explained that the Humane Society and the City of Moose Jaw signed a quarter-century fee-for-service contract in 2017. However, during the past seven years, the provincial minimum wage has increased by 36.86 per cent, leading to higher operational costs.
Those costs have led to higher payroll expenses, higher employee benefits, overtime, payroll taxes, and contributions, and negative effects on the organization’s operational efficiency and service levels.
Haukaas wrote in her letter that a budget increase would help offset the rise in wages, while this adjustment would ensure the Humane Society can continue providing quality services it committed to in its agreement.
She pointed out that trained staff are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year to help with stray and injured animals. Moreover, employees work with the Moose Jaw Police Service, the Police and Crisis Team (PACT) and the Saskatchewan Health Authority to provide emergency housing for animals when their owners are receiving treatment for ailments.
The executive director acknowledged that city hall gives the organization an increase of roughly three per cent annually in connection with the consumer price index, but that has translated into an increase of “only” 25.03 per cent since 2017, leaving a difference of 11.83 per cent. Therefore, the organization wanted the city to split the increase and hike the contract by 5.92 per cent.
Haukaas told council that city administration usually brings the contract to the table every five years for review. However, neither party predicted in 2017 that the minimum wage would increase so much. So, the Humane Society hoped that council would cover half the increase.
Meanwhile, the organization is slowly making progress on building a new shelter building, with developer Norm Hales supporting the project, said Haukaas. Furthermore, it has “nailed down” an architectural plan and is close to hiring a fundraiser dedicated to generating money for the project.
Moreover, the crematorium building has been constructed and is close to starting operations.
Haukaas thanked Marnie Loney, the land administrator at city hall, for helping with the project and for being a “godsend.” The executive director noted that the Humane Society leases land from the city, so whenever it has issues with a Crown corporation like SaskPower or SaskEnergy, it asks Loney for help.
City council begins its 2025 budget discussions in January.
