In 2020 Kewanee’s City Council passed an ordinance creating a $5 annual fee for each cat and dog kept as pets by Kewaneeans.

The hope, at the time, was to raise enough money from the license fees to help defray the cost of hiring a city animal control officer.

The animal fee though, was largely ignored by residents. In the ordinance’s first year, the city collected $2,447.50 in license fees, which indicated a total dog and cat population in the city of less than 500.

The city received less and less money from the fees in the following years: $1,950 the following year, then $620 the next year and only $280 last year.

In a report to the council prepared for Monday’s meeting, Police Chief Stephen Kijanowski noted that revenue from the fee has “declined significantly,” and added, “Furthermore, there appears to have been no revenue generated from enforcement of fines for non-compliance.”

The police department offers a free online pet registration through its Community Service Portal that’s designed to help reunite lost pets with their owners. Pet owners may register their animals, including a photo, through the portal.

Since stricter enforcement of the registration requirement “could result in a negative reaction from residents,” Kijanowski recommended that the council repeal the ordinance requiring the paid registrations.

Council members didn’t act on the recommendation Monday, but they seemed to agree with the police chief’s recommendation.

Also Monday, the council went along with a request from staff at the Kewanee Public Library and passed a resolution to install a streetlight in the alley behind the library.

The alley is one of the city’s most heavily-traveled, due to the mailbox behind the post office and the library’s book depository at the north end of the alley.