Millions in Philadelphia Dog License Fees Going Uncollected, City Controller Says
By John McDevitt
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Philadelphia's city controller says millions of dollars in dog license fees are uncollected by the city.
If you own a dog in Philadelphia, it is required that you pay $16 a year for a license. But not everyone is complying, according to city controller Alan Butkovitz, who says the city is losing about $5 million each year in uncollected dog license fees.
"It's like losing almost five million dollars," Butkovitz tells KYW Newsradio. "It's only collecting $170,000 out of a potential five million, so that means four million, 830-thousand dollars is not being collected."
He says the figures in his monthly economic report indicate less than five percent of the city's estimated 350,000 dogs have a current license. He thinks the compliance rate is about 20 percent statewide.
"Philadelphia has a problem of enforcement of all kind of back taxes, fees, fines," he says. "This falls into a general pattern."
To obtain a Philadelphia dog license, or for more information, go to license.acctphilly.org.
