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Bonner County treasurer outlines mostly reduced 2025 budget while flagging lockbox, postage and possible office move
Summary
At a budget workshop, the Bonner County treasurer presented a draft budget that reduces overall spending by $26,032 but highlights likely higher postage and lockbox processing costs, a $3,000 contingency for public-administration cases, and uncertainty about expenses tied to a possible office move and elevator concerns.
The Bonner County treasurer presented a draft 2025 operating budget at a workshop, saying the overall budget has decreased by $26,032 while flagging higher postage and lockbox-processing costs and potential one-time moving or building-security expenses.
"It is 209, and we are here for the budget workshop with our treasurer," the treasurer said as she opened the discussion and later noted, "my overall budget has decreased by $26,032." The treasurer walked commissioners through line items including travel, contracted services for tax-bill production, lockbox maintenance, title-reporting costs and a contingency for public-administration cases.
The treasurer told the board the county will switch lockbox vendors this year and estimated maintenance fees and processing differently under the new arrangement. She said the county’s existing lockbox maintenance expense is currently budgeted at $8,200 but could drop to about $5,200 if an annual fee charged by the incumbent bank is resolved; she included a $3,000 placeholder in the draft to cover an uncertain annual charge if it cannot be waived before the budget must be adopted.
She described contracted services for producing and mailing tax bills as a major cost driver. The treasurer estimated postage and related mailing costs to run roughly $31,000 for the approximately 2,025 tax bills to be mailed in November, reflecting a 10% postage increase and a roughly 1,000-parcel increase in billed parcels compared with prior years. Printing and processing fees from the county’s vendor, Master's Touch, were shown separately and include an allowance for a vendor-recommended 15% increase in paper and envelope costs.
The treasurer also walked the commissioners through travel and training lines — including a $780 increase in travel mileage and modest increases in lodging and registration tied to the Idaho Association of Counties (IAC) and the treasurer’s conference — and routine office supply and copier costs adjusted to recent actuals.
On public-administration expenses, the treasurer proposed raising the contingency to $6,000 — about $3,000 per potential estate case — to cover costs such as storage, movers, locksmiths and travel when an estate is insolvent. She said the number of such cases each year is unpredictable and described the increase as a contingency for worst-case scenarios.
Commissioners and staff also discussed the county building and whether the treasurer’s office should move. The treasurer said she has no budgeted funds for remodeling counters or other tenant-improvement expenses if a move occurs and asked the board to schedule a workshop to decide building direction and funding. She noted elevator reliability and recommendations from an active-shooter training as factors in any relocation decision.
No formal votes or budget adoptions occurred at the workshop; the session recorded only discussion and requests for further direction. The treasurer said she will continue to refine figures — for example, removing the $3,000 placeholder for a potential bank annual fee if the bank confirms it will not charge that fee before the county must adopt a final budget.
The board did not adopt the budget at the workshop; staff will return with updated figures and any clarifications about lockbox vendor charges, final parcel counts for mailing, and potential moving costs before adoption deadlines.
