Owning a pet is already a sizable financial liability and if a Rockford proposal goes through it could be even more expensive. 

The proposal Rockford alderman are considering would add an additional annual fee of $10 for altered animals and $25 for unaltered animals.

Early reaction from the city is that it would go towards making up the current five million dollar deficit the city is currently facing. $500,000 of that deficit is coming from what the Winnebago County Animal Services charged the city last year.

Animal rights activists are concerned that the new tax could discourage people from adopting pets from their shelters.

I personally have two main concerns with this. It seems rather random to pick pet owners out of the population to shoulder some of the burden. I find it unlikely that the extra money will go directly to programs helping animals in the area. My other problem is that this seems very difficult to enforce. Are they going to do spot checks at people's houses?

This proposal hasn't been met with many open arms. I'd be surprised if it passes but the city has definitely surprised me before.

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