Bonner County commissioners to review swapping day-after-Thanksgiving for Juneteenth after staff raise operational concerns

Bonner County commissioners discussed changing the county holiday calendar — including whether to make the day after Thanksgiving a day off and to swap that day with Juneteenth or other floating holidays — and asked staff to research options and constraints.

The issue surfaced in a broader administrative discussion about department scheduling and the county’s budget calendar. Commissioner Corn asked whether the group wanted to “look into seeing what it would take to go ahead and change this” so a decision could be made before Thanksgiving. The board agreed the change needed review rather than an immediate vote.

Why it matters: county offices must balance employee time off with operational needs such as tax collection deadlines and court schedules. Treasurer Acosta noted the second-half property taxes are due June 20 and that offices will be busy in the run-up to that date. Dennis Engelhard, assessor of Bonner County, said the commission likely has authority to set floating holidays but warned of budgetary costs if additional paid days are granted.

On legal and operational limits, Charlene from the courthouse cautioned that court calendars can override countywide closures for court staff. “If the Supreme Court says we're open, we're open. So we are open after the day after Thanksgiving regardless of how many people wanna take PTO,” she said, adding that some employees must be present on days the courts schedule business. Engelhard told commissioners: “I don't believe that there's a statute that regulates ... how many days that commissioners can give up. That's up to you guys, I think. The only thing you need to can take into consideration ... is the cost to the county.”

County staff also raised equity and security concerns about partial building closures. One participant said having just the treasurer’s office open while the rest of the building was closed creates security and consistency problems; making closures uniform across departments could address that, they argued.

Direction and next steps: a commissioner said they would “look into this this week” and report options, including making Columbus Day or other holidays floating, or swapping Juneteenth and the day after Thanksgiving. No formal resolution or vote was taken at the meeting.

The discussion also surfaced related operational notes: several departments emphasized they would provide months’ notice if they planned to close, and that some offices (for example, court calendars and certain public-safety functions) may be legally required to remain open regardless of countywide holiday changes.

The commission plans a follow-up once staff compile legal, budgetary and operational details.