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 recreation: Community Planning & Development Director Jason Welker presented parks maintenance and parks-capital requests. Highlights:

- Parks maintenance: the division maintains roughly 88 acres of parks plus multiple city pathways and downtown streetscape elements. The budget includes $55,000 for a replacement tractor and $51,300 for operational supplies. Staff emphasized that park crews perform many capital-support tasks in-house and praised long-serving employees.

- Invasive aquatic-weed mitigation: the parks budget includes $40,000 for annual invasive species hand-harvest and mitigation work at City Beach and within the Sand Creek corridor. Staff said the city moved away from chemical treatments to hand-harvest methods and that the mechanical/hand approach is costlier but reduces chemical use.

- Parks capital: the draft CIP contains a $300,000 line for parkland acquisition (plus additional potential sources including impact fees and SURA funds), $150,000 for other park projects, and line items for RV-park/snack-shack maintenance and a future turf replacement fund.

- Recreation: the city is shifting from a city-run programming model toward a facility-provider model centered on the James E. Russell (JER) Sports Center. The recreation division's personnel budget decreased because the city no longer carries a recreation superintendent; the JER partnership with outside providers (for example USTA for tennis programming) is expected to increase facility revenue and free staff capacity to reintroduce some city programs. Staff noted lifeguard staffing is not budgeted for FY2026 because the city has been unable to reliably recruit lifeguards; councilors urged clarity and the opportunity to restore lifeguards if funds and operations permit.

Public works — water and wastewater: Public Works Director Holly Ellis and utility supervisor Rod Burgett outlined water and wastewater budgets and capital needs. Key points:

- Water treatment & distribution: the city operates two water treatment plants (Little Sand Creek and the Lake Plant). Staff proposed a Little Sand Creek facility planning effort and a risk-and-resiliency plan (budgeted at about $140,000) and a $150,000 repair for a raw-water intake screen. Meter replacement was flagged as a high-priority operational item, with roughly $170,000 budgeted to accelerate replacement of aging meters and address nearly 200 meters that were not reporting.

- Wastewater collections and treatment: collections staff maintain 19 lift stations; capital includes pump replacements and work required to support a future wastewater-plant replacement program and solids-handling improvements.

Revenue and taxes: Finance staff (Sarah) walked council through citywide revenue sources and timing. Staff stressed three major timing constraints: state revenue-sharing projections (mid-May release), county new-construction rules (third Monday in July) and final taxable valuation (first Monday in August). The presentation also flagged the city’s resort-city (lodging) tax, which funds some police, fire and recreation services and an existing public-transportation contract. Staff noted a potential near-term loss of resort-city revenue if a downtown hotel is demolished; city staff and councilors said the project’s schedule could push demolition into September, but the timing remains uncertain.

Council discussion and next steps: Council asked staff for clearer historical comparisons (actuals vs. budget for the last several years) and asked departments to examine lease vs. buy and other options for large equipment. Some councilors asked staff to prepare alternate funding plans for select capital items, and one councilor requested staff seek potential grant opportunities tied to watershed and wildfire mitigation work in the Little Sand Creek watershed.

A vote to convene an executive session under Idaho Code for personnel and exempt records (Idaho Code 74-206(1)(b) and (d)) passed by roll call at the end of the meeting.

What was not decided: workshop sessions are informational and produce direction for staff and council; the FY2026 revenue and expenditure schedule remains tentative until final state and county inputs are available and until council takes formal action at upcoming meetings and public hearings.