Commissioners debate fairness of discretionary employee spending; sheriff urges competitive pay over bonuses

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 bonuses in the FY26 base and creating a countywide, equitable formula if the board decides to fund employee appreciation. The sheriff, Robert Norris, told the board he supports competitive base pay rather than bonuses but said some appreciation practices (banquets, periodic meals) are customary in law enforcement and can be important in a custody environment where employees cannot easily leave for meals. “We average about $92 per employee per year,” Norris said, and later a presentor estimated that $92 per person would equate to about $73,000 countywide (that countywide figure was not tied to a specific speaker in the transcript).

Commissioners expressed concern about fairness: discretionary appreciation varies by department, and county employment is more transparent than the private sector, which can create internal complaints when employees perceive unequal treatment. No formal budget direction was issued; the board said it would revisit the item during the budget process and consider options, including keeping discretionary lines but adding consistent guidelines or removing them from initial departmental budget submissions and addressing them separately.

No changes to FY26 budget lines were adopted at the meeting.