Commissioners discuss veterans memorial fund use and ask staff for options

Commissioners discussed how the county memorial and veterans-memorial funds have been used and whether the county should consider reallocating some future memorial funds away from the county-owned Bannock County Memorial Building toward other memorials and sites that serve veterans and the community.

One commissioner said the Memorial Building had not followed previous directions and had expended funds in ways the commission had not anticipated; the commissioner recounted that the county had invested hundreds of thousands of dollars in the facility and that the board should consider alternatives. Commissioners discussed supporting other memorials in the county, naming the Field of Heroes and a Gold Star memorial as possible recipients, and suggested investigating whether the governing statute requires funds be used only for structures or could support memorials in other locations.

Staff said they would research the statute's language (the statute uses the phrase "a memorial to be erected in the county") and return with options and clarifications, and commissioners set a tentative follow-up for the county's budget recap process later in the month. The board directed staff to prepare options and cost estimates so the commission could decide whether to change future allocations or to continue supporting the Memorial Building.