WALLACE — Shoshone County leaders faced a packed courthouse Thursday as they opened public discussions on how to close a $1.7 million budget deficit, including the potential of freezing employee wages.

Commissioner Jeff Zimmerman, who requested the wage topic be added, stressed no final decision would be made at the meeting. "We need to look into this. We can't make money out of the air," he stated.

While Commissioner David Dose hadn't planned to tackle the deficit until receiving an end-of-month financial assessment, he welcomed the dialogue. "Your paychecks are covered. They're not suddenly going to disappear. We want to make sure that's clear, but we did use grant money and other things to make that happen this year. I don't want to create another crisis."

Dose said he doesn't want to repeat the county's devastating pay cuts from a budget crisis three decades ago. "I think we created a second crisis the last time we had a financial crisis. We created an exodus. We created a training problem, so I'm not in favor of pay cuts," he said.

Zimmerman underscored the urgency: "It doesn't make sense to keep increasing wages as we go on because we do not have the money. We're not going to decide this today, but that's basically what we're here for is to make sure we can come to a decision."

Law enforcement cautioned that slashing too deeply could cripple services. "With no hope for the future because everybody's struggling to put food on the table, I don't blame them, but I feel like there's going to be a mass exodus of deputies," said Sheriff Holly Lindsey.

While some revenue ideas like tightening building permit issuance were proposed, Zimmerman noted challenges. "With those permits, we're only getting 15%. It is revenue, but we need code enforcement."

Dose advocated a measured approach to avoid compounding past mistakes. "This is going to be a process," he stated, urging incremental steps without causing irrevocable damage to the county's systems, institutional knowledge and morale.

As Shoshone County weighs closing its $1.3 million gap for the next fiscal year, leaders pledged thorough evaluation to protect core services while ensuring fiscal responsibility. 

But wage freezes remain an option.

    Dose