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But records show its departure also stemmed from expenses — specifically, the county rejecting invoices from the APA for items such as meals, team outings and dog training.

Neither the APA nor the county publicly acknowledged the disagreements over expenses until this week, after questions from the Post-Dispatch, which reviewed invoices and emails.

Starting in 2022, the county paid monthly invoices from the APA for supplies, veterinary care and payroll as part of a contract worth $3.2 million per year.

But in spring 2024, the county suddenly began denying some expenses. They included items such as gifts for staff appreciation, flowers, catering for parties and travel for conferences. In all, the county rejected about $99,000 in expenses in the second half of 2024, county records show. The APA expects that amount will rise after its January and February invoices are reviewed.

The head of the county's health department, Dr. Kanika Cunningham, decided those expenses were not covered under the contract, said spokeswoman Sara Dayley.

Elizabeth Eisele, a spokeswoman for County Executive Sam Page, said the expenses were reasonable but agreed they were not covered under the contract.

"We want to be good stewards of taxpayer money," Eisele said.

But the APA believed those costs were covered by the agreement, which included money for volunteer programs and staff development, said CEO Sarah Javier. Besides, staff appreciation and training are essential to retaining employees with challenging jobs, she said. It can be hard to find people for work that can be physically taxing and may include seeing animals die.

"We have a compassionate and dedicated team to do this work," Javier said. "We want them to feel appreciated and valued, and we have done this for years."

Javier confirmed that the expense disagreements contributed to the APA's contract termination, though she added that the organization also wants to focus on expanding its operations in North County. The APA plans to announce its expansion plans in coming months.

"As we explore what our next steps are, we anticipate continued partnership with St. Louis County because we will be serving residents in that community," Javier said.

Expenses questioned

The APA, a nonprofit organization, runs a shelter in Brentwood. In December 2022, it contracted with St. Louis County to also run the county's animal shelter in Olivette, which had long been beset by euthanasia scandals, overpopulation, poor conditions and other problems. Under the agreement, the APA would pay for expenses up front and then invoice the county for reimbursement.

The APA was lauded for its work. It cleaned up the shelter, leveraged its volunteer and foster programs to improve animal wellbeing, and increased adoptions.

The APA began submitting invoices to the county in fall 2022, and only a few were questioned initially. In January 2023, for example, the county asked the APA about spending $140 for a happy hour with county staff at Chevys Mexican restaurant. The county doesn't allow taxpayer money to be spent on alcohol, according to emails between APA and county staff. The APA agreed to cover the expense.

Throughout 2023, the county paid for dozens of expenses that weren't directly related to animal care: $100 for a gift card for a hospitalized APA employee; $39 for snacks for a Puppy Bowl party; $83 for cookies for Random Acts of Kindness Day; $386 for a massage recliner and side table with a charging station; $456 for T-shirts for volunteers; and $358 for a catered waffle breakfast to celebrate the APA being named a top workplace in the region.

Carole Baskin, director of the county health division responsible for the shelter, and Kate Donaldson, the deputy director, generally approved the monthly invoices, plus hundreds of thousands of dollars in operational costs, with few questions.

Then things changed last spring.

The invoice for April 2024, charging $261,990, wasn't approved quickly. Three months later, Cunningham, Baskin's boss and the chief of the health department, approved paying about $255,700 — roughly $6,300 less than what the APA requested. The invoice didn't indicate what costs were eliminated.

"There are questions pending and APA is asking for a payout of the amount I approve," Cunningham wrote in a July 12 email to Mark Barry, the department's fiscal director.

It happened again for the May invoice. In July, Cunningham approved paying the APA $245,202 of the $271,441 invoiced — a difference of $26,239. The invoice shows the original amount crossed out in purple ink, with the new amount written beside it. The same thing happened for invoices dated June and July, and neither noted which costs weren't covered.

Then, in August, the APA announced it would withdraw from the county contract three years before it was set to expire. Neither the APA nor the county publicly mentioned the expense disputes.

For every month from April through December 2024, invoices had outstanding balances ranging from $1,714 to $36,562. In all, the county did not pay more than $99,000 in submitted expenses.

At first, the monthly invoices showed totals that were crossed out, with the new and lower amounts written in.

Later in the year, starting in October, the county began crossing out line-item expenses it chose not to cover. They included a $10 gift card to Gioia's Deli for a caregiver birthday; $188 in credit card processing fees; $59 for an APA staffer's dinner at a conference; $750 in dog training fees; and $950 for a down payment for a holiday party at Dave & Buster's.

Last month, an accountant questioned the health department's methods for altering the APA invoices. In an email dated Feb. 6, accountant Gregory Kremer said he was confused by the invoices. In one instance, the health department subtracted more from the invoice total than it crossed out. On another invoice, items were crossed out with no reduction to the total amount.

"At the end of the day, I don't think it is good practice to adjust these invoices as we have been doing," Kremer wrote to a health department staffer.  He suggested asking the APA for a revised invoice before paying. A week later, the health department fiscal director, Barry, reminded Cunningham and other department leaders to follow that practice.

Javier said the APA never received explanations for most of the rejected expenses.

"On multiple occasions, we have requested information related to what items were not paid, why they were not paid and the total amount for the item that wasn't being paid," Javier said.

The APA handed shelter operations back to the county on Feb. 21.

'I'm confused'

Last week, in a public hearing on various health department issues, St. Louis County Council members questioned Cunningham about the APA's departure.

"Please tell me why we severed the relationship with the APA," Councilwoman Shalonda Webb asked.

Cunningham said the county was ready to take over operations and that the APA wanted to expand in North County.

"Both teams were able to get to the point where we are, and it just made sense for us to separate ties," Cunningham said.

Councilman Mark Harder asked if the APA had another location lined up or how it planned to expand.

"I'm not sure of their operations and what their plan is to support North County," Cunningham responded.

"I'm confused," Harder said. "If they didn't have a plan or a place to go to, why did they want to get out of this arrangement prematurely?"

"You would have to talk to them about their plans moving forward," Cunningham said.

The council chair, Rita Heard Days, asked if the health department had "any kind of philosophical differences with the APA."

"Yes, of course," Cunningham responded, pointing to the APA's role as an animal welfare organization and the county's obligation to fulfill a public health function.

"We can't turn animals away — dogs, cats, roosters, servals. We can't turn any of that away," Cunningham said. "We have a duty to serve St Louis County, all of St. Louis County, so there were some differences."

The topic of expenses never came up during the hearing.