The Bellevue City Council this week voted to join a regional coalition of 27 cities and unincorporated communities that will share the cost of providing animal services.

King County will run the program, even though the county government tried last year to get out of the animal-control business in an effort to close the gap on a nearly $60-million operating-budget deficit.

Earlier proposals called for shifting animal-care responsibility to private shelters, but the King County Council and Executive Dow Constantine ultimately decided that move wouldn’t be feasible yet.

“The reality is that we do not have the animal sheltering capacity in the region without the county shelter in Kent, at least in the near term,” councilmember Julia Patterson said in a statement.

The county’s existing contract with the cities is due to expire on June 30.

The new agreement lasts 30 months, with Bellevue expected to pay around $165,000 during that stretch.

Bellevue policy advisor Alison Bennett said breaking with the county at this time would have forced the city to deal with multiple issues – like hiring animal-control officers, purchasing equipment, and developing service agreements with new partners – with relatively short notice.

“The (30-month) contract was selected because it allows time for the cities and the county to work on some key components of the service, such as long-term shelter arrangements, the potential for working with private non-profits, increasing pet-license sales, looking for service-delivery efficiencies and cost savings,” Bennett said in an e-mail.

Cities are expected to generate revenue for the new program by increasing fees for pet licensing and penalties. The plan is designed to ween municipalities off county subsidies that paid for animal services in the past.

That has animal-control workers concerned about job security.

“We’re optimistic that the cities will see this as a good service, and we’ll eventually get more staff on board to cover them,” said Shelby Russell, president of the King County Animal Control Officers Guild.

Bellevue is working with neighboring communities to consider a smaller regional program for animal services. But it would be 2013 before the city could implement such a plan.

The King County shelter in Kent will remain open under the new agreement, while Crossroads shelter will close.

The plan divides the county into four geographic districts for animal control. Bellevue is coupled with Beaux Arts, Clyde Hill, Issaquah, Mercer Island, Newcastle, North Bend, Snoqualmie and Yarrow Point.

Each region will have a dedicated field officer, a field sergeant, a sergeant to investigate cruelty cases, and two officers on call for emergency response after regular service hours, which are Monday through Friday only.

The county will no longer provide weekend services to cities unless they sign an additional agreement for that purpose. Communities can also contract for park patrols.

King County Animal Care and Control services manager Ken Nakatsu says this model frees up officers to work in the shelter without pulling them from the field.

Federal Way opted out of the new animal-services agreement in February, deciding it could perform the same functions for less cost. The city’s police department will handle animal services beginning July 1.

Bothell signed on to the regional cost-sharing plan for six months, and plans to re-evaluate its options after that contract expires.