Sandpoint reviews FY2026 budget workshop: police, parks, recreation and utilities spending priorities

Sandpoint city staff presented department budget proposals and citywide revenue projections at a July 16 budget workshop, walking the council through police, community planning and development, parks, recreation and public-works utilities spending for FY2026.

Why it matters: the workshop identifies candidate allocations that will feed the city’s tentative FY2026 revenue and expenditure schedule and help shape the annual budget and fee ordinance. Staff repeatedly cautioned that several key revenue inputs (state-shared distributions, taxable valuation and new-construction rules) are not final until late July or early August and that the general fund cannot be finalized until those numbers arrive.

Police: Chief Corey briefed council on department staffing and equipment needs. The department will maintain 26 employees (21 sworn), restructure supervisory ranks after a retirement, and continue a take-home vehicle program aimed at retention. The chief outlined capital requests including radio replacements ($60,000), replacement of body-worn camera infrastructure ($70,000) and a vehicle purchase (roughly $60,000), and said about 87% of the police operating budget is wages and benefits. On parking-management rollout, the chief said staff will evaluate technology and enforcement needs and hopes the existing three community-resource officers plus automation will be sufficient to start the program.

Parks and recrea…