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Sandpoint panel reopens urban-forestry budget debate; master-plan figures, per-capita options discussed
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Summary
Commissioners discussed FY2027 urban forestry recommendations including a previously prepared master-plan target (~$162,000), per-capita comparables, and a range of possible asks from about $50,000 to $250,000 depending on approach and priorities; immediate RFPs for clearance/hazard pruning were also announced.
The Sandpoint Urban Forestry Commission spent a large portion of its April 23 meeting reviewing budget priorities and comparables for fiscal year 2027. Vice Chair Paige Belfry urged the commission to "think about what's best for trees" and reviewed a consultant (Jim Flott) master plan that recommended about $162,000 annually four years ago.
Commissioners reviewed multiple ways to size the budget: per-capita (Tree City USA baseline $2 per cap), comparisons with similar municipalities (Hayden cited as a peer with $79,676 in FY26, about $4.65 per capita), and a national-average illustration using a portion of the city budget (0.5% of Sandpoint's stated $50 million city budget would be $250,000). Commissioner Chase Youngdahl said he tentatively prioritized hazard tree removal as the top line item, maintenance second, and consultant services third while suggesting an overall operating budget that could reasonably stay near $50,000 if constrained.
Eric Bush, the city staff liaison, described an RFP he is preparing to procure immediate clearance and hazard-pruning work using any available FY26 year-end funds; results of that RFP would provide ballpark costs to inform a longer-term cyclical maintenance program. Bush also proposed breaking the city into maintenance quadrants and establishing a rotating pruning cycle that would prioritize sight-line and safety obstructions first, then systemic health pruning and cyclical maintenance as funds allow.
Belfry highlighted gaps between the consultant's recommendations and actual spending: for 2022 the Flott plan proposed roughly $81,000 for pruning (actual listed as $5,000) and other line items (planting, removal) were similarly underfunded, which Belfry said helps explain why many plan recommendations were not achieved. Commissioners discussed tradeoffs: planting more trees without a maintenance plan risks future loss; conversely, targeted investment in pruning and young-tree structural pruning can reduce long-term costs.
Next steps: staff will issue the RFP for immediate clearance/hazard work and return with responses to inform a recommended FY2027 budget and possible granular line-item recommendations (e.g., amounts for pruning, removal, planting, outreach and consultant services). The commission agreed to continue detailed budget formulation at upcoming meetings.
