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Mayor John Hieftje and former Council Member Marcia Higgins encounter a cat while going door to door last year. Hieftje wants the city to look into starting a cat licensing program.

(Ryan Stanton | The Ann Arbor News)

The Ann Arbor City Council voted unanimously Monday night in favor of changes to the city's dog-licensing program, including setting new license fees.

Before the council voted, Mayor John Hieftje remarked that he hopes the city eventually will consider requiring city residents to license their cats, too.

"At some point, I would hope the city would consider extending licensing to cats that are let outside," he said, going on to describe nuisances caused by cats that kill other animals and damage people's gardens.

"I have a couple of people on my block, a couple of neighbors, who have complained over the years," he said. "One who is a gardner who has a great deal of problems with cats doing their business in her garden, as you can imagine how difficult that would be when you're out there growing your vegetables."

A sign outside the Ann Arbor city clerk's office promotes dog licensing.

Hieftje said another woman has complained about cats taking birds off her bird feeder.

"If you look at some of the research about cats, they have gone a long way to eliminating ground-nesting birds in most cities and suburban areas, and they do take a lot of birds," Hieftje said. "So, I would just hope that in the future the city might consider licensing cats that are let outside in the same way we do dogs, so we can keep better track of them and certainly return them to their owners if they're lost, but also know who's responsible for that animal."

Council Member Jane Lumm, a 2nd Ward representative who has pushed for improvements to the dog-licensing program, said the Humane Society of Huron Valley has encouraged cat licensing along with greater dog licensing.

"But this is the first step," she said, adding she's hearing from various folks in the community who are encouraging cat licensing, too.

"In some instances, there are situations where there are feral cats, and the Humane Society has a program called Trap, Neuter and Return," she said. "So if you think you have a feral cat problem in your neighborhood, you can contact the Humane Society."

The City Council voted unanimously Monday night to give final approval to changes that allow the city clerk to provide licensing options for dog owners in one-, two- or three-year tags that align with the issuance of rabies vaccination certificates.

The council also unanimously approved a separate resolution establishing new license fees. The current fee of $16 for a two-year dog license was set in 2006.

The council approved a new discounted fee for spayed and neutered dogs, with the new fee structure as follows:

$6 for up to one year ($12 for unaltered dogs)

$11 for up to two years ($22 for unaltered dogs)

$15 for up to three years ($30 for unaltered dogs)

For service dogs, there is no charge with proper documentation.

The ordinance changes also allow for the establishment of an online renewal program when technology allows, said City Clerk Jackie Beaudry.

Another change moves the dog license expiration date from June 30 to May 30 to allow for the sale of dog park tags and dog licenses at one time as weather warms.

Lumm said each of the changes will make it dog licensing easier for residents and will improve administrative efficiency at city hall.

"The purpose of these changes to the dog-licensing program is to improve participation by making licensing more user-friendly," Lumm said. "Participation in the past hasn't been all that great, and that's unfortunate."

The added emphasis on licensing is expected to generate $54,000 in new annual revenue for the city — about half of which is intended to support increased dog licensing efforts, and about half of which is intended to help pay for animal control services provided by the Humane Society of Huron Valley.

That includes picking up and housing stray animals, and providing sheltered animals with food, water and necessary medical attention.

The HSHV estimates that Ann Arbor is home to about 30,000 dogs, but city officials say only a small fraction of them are licensed through the city.

Ryan Stanton covers the city beat for The Ann Arbor News. Reach him at ryanstanton@mlive.com or 734-623-2529 or follow him on Twitter.