Kootenai County faces $5.6 million budget gap despite tax increase

Kootenai County commissioners were told they could raise property taxes by the full 3 percent and still end the FY2027 budget process $5.6 million in the red. Without any tax increase, the gap grows to $7.6 million, turning the next two months into a fight over which services can be protected and which will be trimmed.

The pressure starts with personnel. The county’s current personnel cost totals $96 million, including benefits and taxes, out of a budget that last year was adopted at $144 million. The proposed personnel budget also carries $7 million for vacant positions, and 40 of those openings have been unfilled for more than 100 days. The heaviest strain is in the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office, including the jail, 911 center and patrol, along with the Kootenai County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office.

Departments are also asking for 12 new positions, a package valued at about $1 million. The prosecuting attorney’s office is seeking roughly $565,000 for new posts, while the sheriff’s office is asking for about $370,000. Step increases for eligible employees would add another $762,000. Finance Director Brandi Falcon told commissioners that stop-loss insurance and medical claims are major drivers behind the rising benefit costs.

Beyond payroll, the county is also fielding $1.2 million in new operating requests and $9.5 million in capital requests, with significant asks coming from Kootenai County Solid Waste and the Kootenai County IT Department. Those requests arrive as the county tries to hold the line on a structural deficit while still covering public-safety and service demands that residents see most directly in jail operations, emergency response and day-to-day county services.

The FY2027 numbers fit a pattern of repeated strain. Kootenai County opened its FY2026 budget process in June 2025 with a proposed budget of about $145 million. In August 2024, it published a $131 million FY2025 budget with a 2 percent tax increase after a liquor-revenue shortfall. The sheriff’s office alone proposed a $54 million FY2026 budget in June 2025, including about $4.5 million in new funding requests.

Commissioners are scheduled to hold deliberation meetings through late July. A preliminary balanced budget is due July 30, followed by a public hearing Aug. 26 and final adoption Aug. 27. The board’s March 12 budget direction already pointed to the main battlegrounds: higher health insurance costs, countywide step increases, a proposed $3 million fund-balance set-aside and closer review of personnel requests. In March, commissioners also approved a $1.4 million supplement to the sheriff’s office overtime account after the original $925,000 jail overtime budget was exhausted quickly, underscoring how fast public-safety costs can outrun forecasts.