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Commissioners tell risk manager to trim shared office supply and small‑asset budgets and clarify cost sharing with HR
Summary
In the budget workshop, commissioners questioned a $2,500 office supplies line shared with HR, proposed lowering it to about $1,200, and directed the risk manager to define what qualifies as 'small assets' and to halve that budget to $500 pending clearer rules.
Bonner County commissioners instructed the risk manager on Monday to reduce the risk office’s shared supplies budget and to provide a clearer, department‑level accounting of supplies and small assets.
Commissioners questioned why the risk office carried a $2,500 supplies line while printing and copier lease costs are driven largely by the county HR office. They recommended reducing the supply allocation to about $1,200 and establishing a cost‑sharing percentage that reflects actual usage.
Commissioner Williams said the county should stop treating shared supplies as an informal pot and instead allocate costs to the departments that consume them. Christian, the risk manager, said most of his work is electronic and estimated his actual supplies usage at “a third or less” of current shared costs; he described periodic printing for commissioner packets and loss runs. The board proposed a notional reduction to $1,200 for the risk line and asked Christian to document typical usage and propose a percent‑share for shared equipment and copier expenses.
Separately, commissioners reviewed the “small assets” line (currently $1,000). They expressed concern about using a general small‑asset budget to buy potentially risky safety equipment that would be used by non‑trained people (for example, confined‑space monitoring at fairgrounds). Christian described prior purchases such as a scanner and monitoring equipment used for site inspections and said he would supervise use when equipment was deployed.
The board directed Christian to (1) define categories of small assets that appropriately belong in the risk budget versus those departments should purchase themselves; (2) reduce the small assets line to $500 for the upcoming fiscal year pending that policy; and (3) return with a clear list of the kinds of durable goods risk would buy and how they would be controlled and maintained.
No formal vote was taken; commissioners said the budget lines can be reassessed as usage data are provided.
