No dues increase for now, AVMA says

SCHAUMBURG, ILL. — The American Veterinary Medical Association's budget forecast fails to include a membership dues increase.

That doesn't rule one out for the near future, but if AVMA's income and expense ratio remains healthy, veterinary medicine's largest membership group can continue to boast some of the lowest professional fees in the nation, Treasurer Dr. Bret Marsh says.

AVMA dues are $250 annually and haven't been raised since 2004. By comparison, regular membership with the American Medical Association is $420 a year. "We'll just take it a year at a time as we see how the budget shapes out and we close out 2006," Marsh says. "I haven't projected one yet, but it depends. Fundamentally, if we have a need for revenue to satisfy member services and the demands of the members in the association, that's the turning point."

Membership dues make up 60 percent of AVMA revenue. The AVMA's 2006 budget projects $26.3 million in income with $15.8 million coming from dues.