Bonner County replaces Juneteenth with Friday after Thanksgiving as paid holiday; exceptions to receive floating holiday

The Bonner County Board of County Commissioners voted Oct. 7 to replace the county’s June holiday (Juneteenth) with the Friday following Thanksgiving and to provide a floating-holiday accommodation for employees who are required to work that day.

County staff presented three options and survey results collected from employees. The staff summary said 203 employees were surveyed; 184 answered the question comparing Juneteenth and the day after Thanksgiving. Of those 184 respondents, 144 (78%) preferred the Friday following Thanksgiving and 40 (22%) preferred keeping Juneteenth. The presenter noted fewer than half of all county employees returned the survey.

Jonathan Holmgren, the director of Human Resources, advised the board that the county could account for exceptions by delegating authority to elected officials and department heads to pin floating holidays for staff who cannot take the Friday after Thanksgiving. Holmgren said, "It'd be a very simple way to account for floating holidays," and recommended the board also specify how many floating holidays are authorized so tracking remains manageable.

During public comment and in board discussion, county officials raised implementation concerns. Chetty Lufton, director of Public Works, told the board that when a county building is open the day after Thanksgiving, custodial and facilities staff typically must work and warned that morale could decline if some employees must work while others get the day off. "If they're if they have to come to work and everybody else is getting the day off, morale is gonna go down," Lufton said, urging the board to allow departmental discretion for staffing.

The board’s final motion replaced Juneteenth with the Friday following Thanksgiving and included language that employees who are by statute or operational need required to work that day would be afforded a floating holiday, to be managed per HR guidance. Commissioners directed HR and payroll to coordinate implementation and clarify whether the change affects calendar-year or fiscal-year pay and how to account for employees who already received holiday pay this year; Holmgren noted Juneteenth pay for this calendar year already had been processed and the change would take effect in future payroll cycles.

Why it matters: The switch alters the county’s paid-holiday schedule and requires administrative follow-up to ensure equitable application to departments — particularly courts, public safety, Road & Bridge and maintenance crews that operate on holidays.

Next steps: HR will work with department heads and elected officials to document how floating-holiday assignments will be authorized and tracked and will prepare implementation steps for the clerk’s office and payroll. The board approved the change by roll call vote.