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Preston council previews 2025–26 budget, debates 24-hour police coverage and staffing trade-offs
Summary
At a budget workshop May 12, the council discussed a proposed 3% property tax increase, wage adjustments, water and sewer rate proposals, potential use of utility funds for police wages, and whether 12-hour shift models should be adopted; council members said officers are assigned on-call 24 hours a day and typical response time is under four minutes.
The Preston City Council used its May 12 meeting to preview the 2025–26 budget and debate police staffing, utility funding and other priorities ahead of formal workshops.
Council members reviewed a proposed 3% property tax increase, cost-of-living wage adjustments, LRIP and utility rate proposals for water and sewer, and a long list of department requests including a new public works pickup, GIS software, body cameras, hydro rebuild and funding for an additional school resource officer.
A substantial portion of the discussion focused on police coverage. Some community members have expressed a perception that the city lacks protection between 2 a.m. and 6 a.m.; councilmembers and Police Chief Dan McCammon said the department assigns officers on-call at all hours, that there is always an officer available to respond, and that typical response times are under four minutes. Council members discussed shift lengths and officer wellbeing, noting research and department experience that 12-hour shifts can be less effective than 8- or 10-hour shifts and that the department uses flexible cover shifts to prioritize enforcement and training.
Councilors also discussed possible uses of water and sewer funds to augment police wages and the need to reserve funds for a secondary source of water. Many items on the list will be prioritized during the dedicated budget workshops; no final votes on the overall tax rate or wage packages were taken on May 12.
What happens next: council budget workshops will continue; staff were asked to provide more detail and specific funding requests for items such as Idaho Legal Aid Services and police staffing options.
