POST warns of funding squeeze as academy attendance, tuition and training costs rise

Boise — Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) Administrator Brad Johnson told the Joint Finance and Appropriations Committee on Feb. 12 that the agency’s dedicated-revenue model has produced shortfalls and prompted recent one-time transfers, even as academy demand and training costs recover from COVID-era declines.

POST certifies officers, accredits training and supports statewide law-enforcement curricula; at the hearing Johnson described a mix of short-term replacement requests and a small personnel conversion to reduce certification backlogs. “The patrol academy, I think right now we're at about $12,000, as an apportion cost to attend that training,” Brad Johnson said, describing the tuition-equivalent cost POST uses to calculate repayment agreements when trainees leave the profession within the agreed period.

Why it matters: POST provides the basic training and certification the state’s law enforcement workforce depends on. The agency told lawmakers that declining dedicated revenues, rising operating costs and an increase in collections activity have strained its budget and raised questions about long-term funding for statewide basic training.

Revenue sources and recent support Noah Peterson’s LSO presentation summarized POST’s revenue streams: court fines and fees (including a $15 fine for many violations), fingerprinting and filing fees, educational and dormitory fees, and a liquor-fund transfer created by House Bill 469 of 2022. Johnson and Peterson said POST received one-time general-fund transfers in recent years to cover a combination of COVID-era disruption, sudden inflationary increases (for example, cafeteria costs at the Meridian campus) and temporary revenue shortfalls. Peterson noted the liquor-fund transfer of 1.5% of annual liquor revenue created a new dedicated inflow beginning in FY2023.

Certification workload and repayments Johnson said POST’s certification-processing workload has grown: turnaround times that were two to four weeks a few years ago now can reach three to six months at peak times. POST enforces two-year (described on the record as two-year or 18-month) repayment agreements for trainees who leave the profession after the state paid training costs. “We send those automatically, if we're unable to work out some kind of a payment plan with that student ... it goes to collections,” Johnson said; he added that more effective collection practices have increased miscellaneous revenue received by POST in recent years.

2026 requests and equipment POST requested a technical records specialist (0.33 FTP; $20,800) to reduce certification backlogs, replacement of a 15-passenger van and a half-ton pickup (one-time $111,600) and IT replacements recommended by OITS (approximately $61,600 for laptops, desktops and monitors). The agency said these replacement items are largely routine and recommended by OITS.

Training delivery and longer-term planning Johnson described a post-council working group studying the future delivery of basic training statewide and said the group aims to bring recommendations within about a year. The working group is assessing the mix of POST-run academies, college-based programs and agency-run programs, and the committee discussed requests from institutions (for example, North Idaho College) for training infrastructure such as a firing range or training track.

Votes at a glance: - Motion (technical correction to program maintenance bill for public schools to provide $21,902 per support unit for health insurance distributions): unanimous consent granted, no objection recorded. The request originated as a technical correction presented by Jared Tatro (Legislative Services) and was approved by unanimous consent for inclusion in the program maintenance bill.

Next steps Committee members asked POST and LSO for detailed lists of academy costs, tuition-equivalent fees for different programs, and a clearer map of where basic training occurs statewide to inform deliberations about long-term funding and potential contributions from local jurisdictions.