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Commissioners ask risk manager to justify memberships and conference travel for county benefit
Summary
Bonner County commissioners questioned whether memberships and conference attendance (RIMS, PRIMA, SafetyPlus) provide county‑wide benefit or are primarily professional development for the risk manager, and asked for written justification and participation details for the budget file.
Bonner County commissioners told the county risk manager on Monday they need clearer justification for paying memberships or conference fees that primarily benefit an individual professional rather than the county as a whole.
At issue were requests in the risk budget for national and regional risk‑management conferences (RIMS in Seattle, PRIMA) and memberships that include SafetyPlus and HRNI. Commissioners asked the risk manager to document what the county receives in return for each membership and whether content is duplicative of training already available through county partners.
Commissioner Williams asked whether the county “needs to pay for both RIMS and PRIMA,” and asked the risk manager to quantify “what does Bonner County get that we couldn't get elsewhere.” The risk manager, Christian, said he sits on the local RIMS chapter board and gains professional development and local contacts; he said PRIMA offers courses and conferences that the county has used for enterprise risk management training and county‑wide participation.
Commissioners directed Christian to return with a written justification for each recurring membership or conference charge, including: (1) the county‑level benefits or deliverables tied to the membership; (2) the expected number of staff who will use the membership or attend trainings; and (3) whether the same training or content can be accessed through existing county subscriptions or the Idaho Association of Counties at lower cost. Commissioners signaled willingness to fund local chapter meetings (small monthly dues, discussed as roughly $25 for meetings) but were skeptical of one‑time, higher‑cost national conferences without clear, county‑wide deliverables.
No final budget vote was taken. Commissioners asked staff to adjust the draft budget to remove one‑time attendance at the Seattle RIMS conference and to replace broad, unspecified training line items with month‑by‑month or event‑by‑event justifications tied to county needs.
