Bannock County residents press commissioners to restore nonprofit funding as board proposes large pay raises

Bannock County residents and local nonprofit leaders told the Bannock County Board of Commissioners at a public hearing on the FY26 budget that proposed cuts to charitable programs and a roughly 14% increase in commissioners’ pay would harm vulnerable people across the county.

Speakers including Aid for Friends, veterans and senior-service advocates urged the board to restore funding for homeless services, the veterans building, the Pocatello Senior Center and the Pocatello Free Clinic. Shannon Ansley, chair of the Aid for Friends executive board, warned that without the $30,000 funding request her agency submitted, shelter operations would shrink by an estimated 24%, reducing the number of people and children accepted into shelter services.

The hearing drew scores of residents who described the county budget as a moral document and criticized what they called a mismatch between capital spending and cuts to social services. “If Bannock County decide[s] to not fund us at the $30,000 funding request that we submitted, the consequences for the agency community would be a 24% reduction in our shelter operating fund,” Ansley said.

Why it matters: Speakers emphasized that local nonprofits operate as part of an uneven safety net that county budget decisions affect directly. Reina Patterson, federal programs coordinator for Pocatello School District, said the district identified 263 students as experiencing homelessness last year and that many families rely on Aid for Friends and partner agencies for shelter and meals.

Many speakers criticized a proposed increase in commissioners’ pay. Multiple commenters said the board had proposed roughly a 14%–14.5% raise — described by residents as approximately $12,000 per commissioner — while cutting an estimated $131,500 from charitable contributions. “You are supposed to be public servants. You’re not supposed to be getting rich here,” Dave Archuleta, a retired associate tribal judge and wartime veteran, said.

Veterans and veterans-building supporters asked the board to preserve funding for the Bannock County Veterans Memorial Building. Bud Smalley, a member of the Marine Corps League and an advisory-board member for the memorial building, said the facility, given to veterans in 1926, is used for weddings, memorials, law-enforcement training and other community functions. He cited Idaho statute authorizing counties to assess up to 0.01% of taxable market value to support a veterans memorial when explaining alternative funding mechanisms to maintain the building.

Other speakers framed the cuts as short-sighted. A retired psychiatric nurse practitioner described how nonprofit housing and social services reduce pressure on emergency departments and psychiatric units, and multiple commenters said divesting from prevention and shelter services would likely increase costs to county law enforcement and corrections.

Procedural notes: The board paused briefly at 11:15 for a scheduled public hearing on the county fee schedule; no members of the public testified at that portion and the board closed that item before returning to the budget hearing. The board opened and closed the public hearing by motion; commissioners did not vote on the budget at the hearing and said they will take public comment under consideration and act at a later, noticed meeting. A commissioner said deliberations will be held Thursday at about 9 a.m. and will be on the record.

The board’s staff and legal counsel attended the hearing. Speakers who requested printed materials were told they could leave them for the record or submit a public records request to the county clerk.

Ending: Commissioners did not take action on the FY26 budget during the hearing and asked the public to submit additional information only if it adds new points to the record. The board said it will review comments and deliberate at a later noticed meeting.