Panhandle Health presents FY26 budget; Bonner County share rises $18,176 to $531,010

Panhandle Health presented its proposed fiscal year 2026 budget to Bonner County commissioners during a meeting addressing Northern Idaho public-health funding and services. The district's county allocation for Bonner County is calculated at $531,009.72, an increase of $18,176 from the prior year, and the presentation stressed both program needs and uncertainty over federal and state funding.

The budget matters because Panhandle Health provides clinical, environmental and nutrition services across five northern Idaho counties; district staff told commissioners the region served by the district is shifting and that federal and state funding streams are unsettled. "Bonner County is where we do a significant amount of our of the work second only to Kootenai County," the Panhandle Health director said during the presentation.

At a glance: the district built a FY26 budget that keeps the overall county levy ask level with last year, but allocations change by county based on population and valuation. The county-allocation formula is 70% population and 30% taxable market value; using those inputs, Bonner County's share rose about 4% in dollar terms. Christine, a Panhandle Health presenter, said the budget includes a 3% general pay increase that carries a $167,000 price tag and that the district's full-time-equivalent staffing drops from 100 FTEs budgeted in FY25 to 91 FTEs in FY26: "the fiscal year 25 budget was budgeted at FTEs of 100, and the fiscal year 26 budget is at 91. So there's a decrease of 9 FTEs in the fiscal year 26 budget."

District staff said personnel dollars overall fall in the FY26 request despite the 3% raise because the budget assumes fewer total FTEs; staff also noted health-insurance costs rose about 10% and are now approximately $14,130 per full FTE. "We built in a 3% increase, which the dollar difference is $167,000," Christine said. Commissioners asked whether positions were being held open to allow flexibility as federal funding levels are clarified; the district said several positions were not refilled during the transition and that the budget reflects an intention to remain flexible if federal or state support changes.

Revenue changes explained by staff include a $368,000 drop in the "use of program advances," driven by a shift in how opioid-settlement receipts were budgeted in FY25 versus the amounts expected to be received and spent in FY26. The presenter said opioid-settlement receipts can arrive irregularly and are now managed through the state treasurer's office; the district plans to use some of those settlement dollars to expand prevention and community programs in coming months.

Expenditure items singled out in the presentation include a planned $200,000 carpet refresh for an aging facility, a Hayden HVAC repair budgeted at about $139,000, a Kellogg office badge-access upgrade of roughly $20,000, and a deferred computer refresh. Trustee payments and benefits (pass-through reimbursements for approved opioid-settlement projects) were budgeted up about $255,000.

Staff also reviewed service-line items. Contracts and grants are the single largest revenue source in the district's pie chart at about 49%; fees comprise roughly 28%, county funding about 21%, and miscellaneous revenue roughly 2%. Christine said Medicaid revenues for the district's home-visiting services increased in FY26 because Medicaid reimbursement is expected for a full year: the budget shows an $82,600 (about 6%) increase in health-services revenue tied to Medicaid. The district reported 211 home-visiting visits in Bonner County during the last calendar year for the Nurse-Family Partnership and Parents as Teachers programs and said those programs currently operate near capacity with wait lists.

Commissioners raised program-access questions. One commissioner asked whether new identification requirements discussed at the state level would reduce WIC access; staff said they had been told new ID requirements may require two forms of identification and that Panhandle Health is still coordinating with Idaho Department of Health and Welfare to understand legislative changes. On mental-health and crisis response, several commissioners pressed Panhandle Health about gaps in local services and the 988 crisis-line access for minors. A commissioner said a state bill under discussion (referred to in the meeting as "Senate Bill 1199") includes parental-consent language that could restrict minors' access to 988; the director acknowledged the change has affected district services and said Panhandle Health will raise those concerns with county partners and state officials.

The presenters emphasized uncertainty in federal funding as a key risk to planned services. "We're keeping a very close eye on federal funding because there's already a few notifications where funding is no longer available, or is potentially shifting," the director said, adding that district leaders and county commissioners will need a "very serious conversation" about the health district's role and funding if the federal budget picture changes.

Next steps: staff said the formal budget hearing of the five county commission chairs is scheduled for May 15, when the chairs will meet and vote on the FY26 budget recommendation. Panhandle Health staff told commissioners they expect to return in coming months to discuss clinical-service planning and any changes required if federal or state funding is reduced.

For now, the FY26 packet presented to Bonner County reflects a district that is trimming staff counts, budgeting modest pay increases, investing in aging facilities and information systems, and shifting some program spending based on irregular opioid-settlement receipts while flagging possible reductions in federal and state support that could require further adjustments.