Pets' Trust Hires Ron Book To Lobby For County Funds

MIAMI (CBSMiami) – "Pets' Trust Miami" is not giving up on a measure to make Miami-Dade shelters 'no kill'.

Last week, Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez said he'll drop a request to raise a portion of the tax rate to fully fund a plan to stop killing dogs and cats at the county's shelter which added up to a $19 million to the 2013-2014 budget.

The $19 million plan was approved by voters in a non-binding straw ballot last year.

Instead, Gimenez said the animal services department would get $4 million from within the budget for implementing a scaled-back version of the no-kill shelter plan. The mayor said he received resistance to the plan because he was elected on a platform to shrink government.

Now Pets' Trust Miami has hired lobbyist Ron Book to help. He'll address the county commission meeting on Tuesday.

During the meeting Gimenez is expected to recommend that commissioners only approve increases in the tax rate that can be applied to big-ticket construction projects approved by voters, according to CBS4 news partner the Miami Herald.

It that occurs there could be deep cuts and 400 layoffs at fire-rescue and library services.

The worst-case scenario would require eliminating six fire units and laying off 149 fire-rescue workers. As for libraries, 10 storefronts and up to 12 branch libraries would be shut down, and there would be 251 layoffs.

The cuts may not wind up being that steep, depending on other savings the county may find between now and the beginning of the fiscal year on October 1st.

CBS4 news partner The Miami Herald contributed to this report