Public hearings today on Bonner County budget

SANDPOINT — Bonner County commissioners are hosting public hearings today to consider the county’s $60 million budget for the coming fiscal year.

The hearings are set for 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. at the Bonner County Administration Building. The commission is scheduled to adopt the budget at 10 a.m. on Thursday.

County commissioners eschewed implementing a 3-percent tax increase allowed by law, in addition to further budget authority that it could have utilized but didn’t, said Clerk Marie Scott.

The portion of the budget funded from property taxes increased $206,889, but commissioners said that tax hit will be offset by taxes collected from new construction in Bonner County. The county collected $244,147 from new construction, but will only use what’s necessary to cover the budget increase.

Although the commission opted not to take the full 3 percent allowed by law, it is implementing the 3-percent tax increase for the county’s Ambulance District, which is a separate budget.

The county’s draft general budget is set at $56.8 million, while the Ambulance District budget is about $3.5 million.

Commissioners have typically utilized the 3 percent for the Ambulance District to improve the level of service.

“This (year) is not an exception,” said Scott.

The budget includes no pay raises for elected officials, although some employees will receive raises due to evolving job descriptions and “parity adjustments” to square up disparities for similar positions in different departments.

“There are no across-the-board wage increases in any department,” Scott said.

Commissioner Mike Nielsen said the total amount of property taxes to be collected, based upon the latest levy report and the draft budget, should be about $21.5 million.

Nielsen said using modified zero-based budgeting during workshops allowed the county to shrink the coming fiscal year’s budget by about $2 million.

Cuts were made from 22 departments.

Road & Bridge suffered the deepest cut — nearly $894,000. The Sheriff’s Office budget was cut by $140,000 and the Solid Waste budget was cut by $208,000, according to Nielsen.

A total of $874,076 was amassed during budget workshops to help pay for the courthouse renovation.

Funding for the Bonner County Fair, 4-H and Bonner County Historical Museum remains intact.

But Scott predicts that the current board’s insistence on not raising property taxes will likely haunt a future board.

“This budget is going to have ramifications that the subsequent board taking their seats in January are going to have to deal with next year during the budget-setting process,” she said.

Scott said retaining funding for the University of Idaho Extension office for the 2014 fiscal year, for instance, would automatically result in a $33,000 tax hit. Road & Bridge’s budget was crafted largely from carryover and Scott said making that department whole again would also be a tax hit.

“It’s deferring the tax hit, frankly,” said Scott. “It’s going to take us years to recover from the ramifications of this budget.”