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up plan based on years of experience. The County is also looking at increasing debt service capital reserve to accommodate future needs of the county. Once the Strategic Plan is in place, the County will need to start using the Strategic Plan as part of the budget process. The County Manager presented proposed budget estimates for fiscal year 2020-2021. Projects include spec buildings, pay study recommendation implementation, the community college k -14 initiative, library, Lee Early College Facility, possible requests from the school system that were not passed by the State, and accommodations for space needs of the County. The County Manager stressed the importance of providing competitive compensation and a good work environment so experienced employees will stay with the County. The County Manager also noted the positive impact having the employee health clinic and wellness initiatives have had on employees. Health insurance premiums for employees may stay the same or go down slightly next year. Response time for EMS is something Emergency Services is looking into. Commissioner Sharpe requested that the County Manager evaluate the ability to reduce property taxes. V. Animal Shelter Proposal Sergeant Kenneth Gilstrap, Animal Control Supervisor with the Lee County Sheriff's Office presented a proposal that would bring the animal shelter under the authority of the Sheriff's Office. He stated that with a combined staff for the animal shelter there is more opportunity to increase the adoption rate and reduce the rate of euthanasia. The County currently has a capacity at the animal shelter of 32. He stated that he would like to extend the hours of operation for the shelter to provide evening and weekend hours. The proposal includes having extended hours a few days during the week. The shelter currently has a supervisor and two shelter attendants. The proposal requests that a part-time position at the Sheriff's office be extended to full-time so there would be four staffed at the shelter full-time. The current positions would stay in their current pay classifications. Currently the Sheriff's Office handles all animal complaints in the county and enforcement of the animal ordinance and state laws. The Health Department would still play a role in reporting, rabies cases, and protocols with the State. If combined, the duties would dramatically increase for the Sheriffs Office. Deputies would be required to train for every aspect of the shelter jobs. The Sheriffs Office knows that it is asking for a financial increase, but hopes it will be providing a better service for the community. Currently the shelter's adoption procedure requires the individual to sign an adoption contract with the shelter and then the individual takes to the contract to the vet and they have two hours to get a contract form signed by the vet and returned to the shelter. Surrounding counties have different procedures. Fees are charged in other counties that sometimes include spay/neuter and initial vaccinations. Sgt. Gilstrap provided that typically when these procedures are available through the County they can be done at a less expensive price. Euthanasia rates are presently low with the County and the shelter staff does a wonderful job at finding placement for animals. The Sheriffs Office would like improve these rates even more using opportunities such as adoption events. The shelter currently has a range between 10 and full capacity at any given time. 6