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Commissioners debate fairness of discretionary employee spending; sheriff urges competitive pay over bonuses
Summary
The board discussed whether to standardize or eliminate department-level discretionary spending such as appreciation meals and bonuses during FY26 budget planning; Sheriff Robert Norris urged higher base pay and noted variability across departments.
Kootenai County commissioners on April 1 discussed discretionary spending lines that some departments use for employee appreciation (banquets, meals, small bonuses) and whether those amounts should be standardized, removed from initial budget submissions, or handled later in the budget cycle to ensure equity across departments.
One commissioner proposed presenting department budgets without discretionary…
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