Kootenai County flags $3.4M health-insurance shortfall as sheriff’s office exceeds budget

COEUR D’ALENE, Idaho — Kootenai County commissioners were told on Nov. 18 that the county’s unaudited fourth-quarter financial report shows the health-insurance fund in a negative balance and the sheriff’s office over budget.

Kyle West, presenting the county’s FY25 fourth-quarter unaudited report through Sept. 30, said "everyone is under budget, except for the sheriff. He's currently at a 101% spent. It's about a $500,000 overage for his budget." West also reported that county property-tax collections were essentially complete and that most fund balances appear sound aside from the health-insurance fund.

The health-insurance fund shortfall is substantial. West and a county finance official said the fund is about $3.4 million over budget for health insurance costs, driven mainly by higher medical-claim expenses—about $3.7 million over projections. The presenters told the board some offsets exist in lower-than-expected premium costs and dental savings but said prior boards had drawn down reserves to cover costs in earlier years, leaving the fund more vulnerable now.

West noted other revenue variances: state revenue-sharing came in about $320,000 above the budgeted amount, sales tax was roughly $224,000 higher than expected, liquor revenue trailed budget by about $136,000, interest income exceeded expectations by about $1.9 million, and unrealized market gains were about $412,000 for the year.

Several departments appear over the county’s internal thresholds for concern, primarily because of a single group-insurance account that feeds multiple department lines. West listed affected areas including facilities and grounds, IT, emergency management, animal control, the drivers license office, sheriff maintenance and personnel budgets, and juvenile diversion programs. He also described specific sheriff-office line overages: patrol overtime is about $172,000 over budget, detective hourly wages and retirement are higher than budgeted, and jail operations show overruns in food service, medication and hospital costs.

Commissioners pressed staff on how overtime and staffing assumptions are set in departmental budgets. A county official told the board that historically the board has made the sheriff whole at year-end when overtime exceeded the budget, but that in recent years salary savings have not been sufficient to cover rising overtime costs. The board asked that the sheriff present during the next budget cycle to justify overtime assumptions and expected staff to bring a more precise metric tying staffing levels to inmate populations.

The county plans a more detailed presentation on the health-insurance fund in the next few weeks as part of year-end adjustments and said it will revisit budget assumptions with the sheriff’s office during the next budget cycle.