The public hearing on Portage's 2025 budget quickly turned into a discussion about stray cats. The proposed budget includes a line item for a trap, neuter, release program.
Kate Schlobohm, a volunteer with Hagrid's Hope Cat Rescue, urged council members to consider other options to go along with it — like low-cost spay and neuter clinics for residents who can't afford veterinarians. "And it is a problem because there are a lot of homeless cats, and we get calls constantly from Portage residents about cats in their yard, cats having kittens under their deck, cats sick and dying in their yard," Schlobohm said.
A big challenge is that Portage Animal Control does not technically pick up stray or feral cats, but some of its officers have reached out to groups like Hagrid's Hope for help.
Portage Police Chief Michael Candiano stressed that it isn't due to a city policy — but its contract with the Porter County Animal Shelter. "That's not really a policy of our police department or our animal control, that we just turn our backs on the cats," Candiano explained. "It's just, I think, that it's such a large problem, and as you guys said, there's just not as many facilities that can house them."
Still, Schlobohm worries that the city's efforts help dogs more than cats. "The board of Hagrid's Hope met with the Portage mayor recently, and he said that the City of Portage pays $28,000 to Porter County Animal Shelter each year, but it does not cover rescuing cats, only dogs," Schlobohm told Lakeshore Public Media in an email. "We'd like to know why, and how to change this policy."
Despite the fact that he was speaking during the city's budget hearing, Hagrid's Hope CEO James Shultz stressed that he wasn't asking the city for money. "We don't need your money. We don't want the money," Shultz told council members. "What we do want is help with resources, finding places where we could set up something where we could do something to help these animals."
Schlobohm told Lakeshore Public Media that the organization has just reached its capacity, and while it isn't asking for money from the city budget, it relies on donations from the public.
As proposed, Portage's 2025 budget adds up to $49 million, with more than half of that being the general fund. The maximum tax levy is just over $22.8 million, an increase of about $800,000 from this year's budget.
Council member Ferdinand Alvarez said he was happy to see department heads have a greater input in the budgeting process this year. He also asked Clerk-Treasurer Elizabeth Modesto for her input.
"Based on your professional opinion, can we, as a city government, afford this proposed budget?" Alvarez asked.
"Yes, we can," Modesto replied.
The proposal may still see some adjustment. The council's budget committee will meet Tuesday to continue working on the budget. It'll be up for the full council's adoption on October 29. It will then go to the Indiana Department of Local Government Finance for final approval.
NOTE: This story has been updated with additional information provided by Hagrid's Hope Cat Rescue.
