Kootenai County commissioners approve contracts, audits and fund transfers; authorize fund balance use for jail medical overages

Kootenai County commissioners on an administrative meeting approved a package of contracts, audits and budget transfers and authorized the use of county fund balance to cover substantial jail medical cost overages.

The board voted to authorize $1,351,211.82 from an assigned fund balance to cover jail medical contract and medication overages for the sheriff’s office after Captain Jeremy Hall told the commissioners the jail was overspent and facing additional payments for the remainder of the year. “As of this point, we’re now $228,277.25 overspent with three more payments of $308,322.25 to process for the remainder of the year,” Hall said. Auditor Brandy Falcon told the board the money would come from the assigned fund balance set aside for the facilities master plan.

Why it matters: approving the fund-balance draw removes an immediate shortfall for contracted jail medical services but reduces reserves the county had assigned to its facilities plan.

Other approved items with financial or operational impact included a $134,800 contract with Alpha Services LLC to perform hazard-fuels treatment on 58.5 acres at Tubbs Hill under a FireSmart grant; a $7,435.77 training purchase for the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office (KCSO) Special Investigations Unit to be paid from drug-related asset-forfeiture funds (account balance cited as $85,290.37); and a change order of $50,679.98 for the jail pod build-out to be paid from the project contingency.

The board also approved routine and recurring actions: the county’s annual audit contract for designated funds with I. Bailey; a term renewal with Master’s Touch for assessment-notice mail services (approximately $61,000); and a professional-services agreement with Altascience Engineering Inc. for communication work related to sensitive aquifer recharge areas, a $21,052 contract the presenter said fits within the current Community Development budget.

Information-technology staff requested and received approval to use current FY25 IT funds (approximately $75,000 as presented) to replace the administrative campus door-lock system. Assessor Kovach questioned whether adding five to six assessor office doors to the same vendor’s work now would save money by avoiding separate mobilization charges and suggested the board consider folding that work into a later status update if funding can be found; the board asked staff to bring cost details back at a status update meeting.

The board approved a Canfield Road repair contract allocation (the county’s portion of a multi-party road repair agreement tied to U.S. Forest Service standards) and a routine transfer of $5,725 within the adult misdemeanor probation budget to cover an internal account adjustment. The commissioners also approved a part-time temporary investigator position in the prosecuting attorney’s office using existing budget savings and adopted Resolution 2025-49 to exempt the ambulance district (KC EMSS) from urban renewal district (URD) revenue-allocation financing pursuant to a recent change in Idaho law.

Votes at a glance

- Approve minutes (items 1–7): approved (voice vote). - Approve consent calendar (items 8–15): approved (voice vote). - Approve payables for May 2025: $844,583.70 and jury payments $1,860.71 — approved. - Transfer of funds for adult misdemeanor probation: $5,725 — approved. - Canfield Road repair contract (county share) — approved. - Annual audit contract (I. Bailey) for specified funds — approved. - Use FY25 IT funds to replace admin door-lock system (approx. $75,000) — approved; further assessor request for additional doors to be considered at status update. - KCSO Special Investigations Unit training (asset forfeiture funds) $7,435.77 — approved. - Hazard Wildland Fuels Treatment, Tubbs Hill (Alpha Services LLC) $134,800 for 58.5 acres — approved. - Jail medical cost overages and medication line items: $1,351,211.82 from assigned fund balance — approved. - Change order, jail pod build-out, $50,679.98 from contingency — approved. - Term renewal, Master’s Touch, assessment notices (approx. $61,000) — approved. - Professional services, Altascience Engineering Inc., communication of sensitive aquifer recharge areas, $21,052 — approved. - Part-time temporary investigator, prosecuting attorney’s office — approved. - Resolution 2025-49: Ambulance district (KC EMSS) withdrawal from URD revenue-allocation financing provisions (Idaho Code §50-2906 amendment) — approved.

Background and next steps: commissioners generally approved the line items as routine or budgeted requests or as necessary responses to contract or program obligations. Several items — notably the IT door-lock work and the jail medical overages — prompted additional follow-up: staff were directed to provide cost details and options for adding assessor doors to the campus project and to monitor impacts to the county’s assigned fund balance. The board set no new deadlines on those follow-ups during the meeting.

Sources: motions, staff presentations and roll-call voice votes recorded during the Kootenai County Board of Commissioners business meeting.