COEUR d'ALENE — Last week, the Kootenai County commissioners unanimously agreed to a revision in the budget they approved Aug. 31.

The $96 million budget, which includes a 3 percent property tax increase and more than $21 million for capital projects, includes a $1.5 million hike in the cost of the county’s employee health insurance premium.

The county initially planned to pay $865,580 of the new insurance costs and have its more than 750 employees make up the other $660,780, which would have been reflected in significantly higher monthly premium contributions for employees.

The revised budget redirects $522,000 previously slated for a merit raise pool to be used to help pay the employees’ portion of the insurance premium.

"With input from Clerk Jim Brannon’s office, we all felt moving it from the increase of the merit pool to the reduction of the proposed increases in employee health care contributions was more equitable and easier to implement," said Commissioner Dan Green.

The adjustment was allowed per Idaho Code 31-1605, which states an adopted budget total and the property tax revenue amount not to be changed after publication of the legal notice, but allocation revisions within that budget total are allowed providing the property tax amount is not exceeded.

For county employees, the revision means for the following year, beginning Nov. 1, their monthly insurance costs won’t be going up as much as they expected, if at all.

For an individual employee, the monthly charge of $38.50 will remain the same. The cost to add a spouse was slated to rise by $95, but now the increase will be just $30.

Commissioner David Stewart believes this is a much better approach.

"To me, this makes sense because the way it is right now we're going to give a paycheck and increase in pay, it's going to be taxed, and it's going to cost the county more because we have to pay more when it's taxed," Stewart said in the Sept. 9 meeting. "And they're going to take that money and pay the insurance costs. So why doesn't the county just pay the insurance costs to where it doesn't cost the county as much and doesn't cost the employee as much? It makes more sense to go ahead and pay the money into the insurance because if the employee pays it, it's going to be a lesser amount they're able to pay, it's going to be more costly to the county whereas if we just paid it, it's a net-net value.”

As of Sept. 9, before the change was implemented, around 200 county employees had signed up for insurance they expected to cost more.

"If you're going to consider this as an option, you do know you're (adding) additional resources with (Human Resources), because they have already started the enrollment period,” said Brannon. "...People may have made decisions to take their husband off or their wife off because of the major increase. They've already started this and they have to go back and revisit.”

The capital projects included in the 2017 budget include a $12 million jail expansion, but some county employees, namely from the sheriff's office, aren't happy with where the money is going.

Kootenai County Sheriff Ben Wolfinger weighed in on the budget changes.

"It is a good step, but it still remains that the pay bands for all county employees moved 4 percent, and they all will see a 2 percent raise, except for deputies," Wolfinger said. “We still know that we are well below the market and the detention deputies have not seen an adjustment since 2008.”