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Bonner County will observe day after Thanksgiving instead of Juneteenth; HR to manage floating‑holiday exceptions
Summary
The Board voted to replace Juneteenth with the Friday after Thanksgiving as an official county holiday, with departments that must remain open afforded a floating holiday as directed by HR and department heads; staff will provide implementation instructions to payroll and affected departments.
Bonner County commissioners voted Oct. 7 to replace the county's June holiday (Juneteenth) with the Friday following Thanksgiving, and directed Human Resources to implement floating‑holiday accommodations for departments that are statutorily required or operationally required to work that day.
Staff presented three options: (1) replace the designated June holiday with the Friday after Thanksgiving; (2) keep the existing holiday schedule; or (3) allow departments to individually decide whether to close the Friday after Thanksgiving. An employee survey of 203 staff (184 answering that specific question) showed 144 employees preferred the day after Thanksgiving, representing 78% of survey respondents to that item; commissioners noted the survey did not capture all county employees and discussed limits of survey reach.
Commissioners debated public‑facing customer service (for example, the Treasurer's Office experiencing heavy traffic around tax deadlines), statutory constraints on courts and certain first‑responder offices, small departments with one or two employees, and custodial/facilities staffing concerns if buildings remained open the day after Thanksgiving. Several commissioners argued a single, consistent holiday makes it easier for the public to know which county services are available; others urged clear HR and payroll procedures so staff required to work receive equitable accommodations.
Jonathan Holmgren, the county Director of Human Resources, recommended delegating authority to elected officials and department heads to assign floating holiday placement and submit memos to HR for payroll tracking; he suggested the board specify how many floating holidays are authorized and allow department heads to reassign the holiday for staff who statutorily cannot take it.
The board adopted a motion to replace Juneteenth with the Friday following Thanksgiving and explicitly provide floating-holiday accommodations for departments that cannot take the Friday off, with implementation to follow HR's recommendation. The measure passed on a roll‑call vote. Staff said they will work with HR and payroll to identify how to track and communicate exceptions and timing to the public and employees.
