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Kootenai County veterans services requests modest FY26 increase amid rising vendor costs
Summary
Tom Freeman and Jessica Christensen presented the veterans services FY26 budget to commissioners, requesting about a $1,575 increase driven mainly by vendor price hikes; Freeman highlighted recent retroactive VA awards received by local veterans and said the office remains a high-performing local VSO.
Tom Freeman and Jessica Christensen, assistant VSO, presented the Kootenai County veterans services FY26 budget to the Board of Commissioners and requested a modest increase driven largely by vendor cost increases. "I am requesting a $1,575 increase over last year's budget," Freeman said during the commissioners' FY26 budget review.
Freeman told the board the office had no A- or C-budget requests this year and said nearly all of the proposed increase reflected vendor price hikes. He described the requested change as "almost 95%" attributable to vendor increases. Jessica Christensen was present as assistant VSO; she did not offer separate budget figures during the recorded remarks.
Freeman also described recent retroactive awards to county veterans that he said were bringing money into the local economy. He said the office had helped veterans secure multiple awards in the last month, citing examples that included six-figure and five-figure awards as well as several smaller awards; the meeting record does not provide full detail or documentation of each amount.
Commissioners praised the office's work during brief remarks but the transcript records no formal motion, vote or directive resulting from the presentation. The veterans services review closed with a routine transition to the next agenda item and no public comment recorded on the budget.
