WALLACE — Shoshone County may soon face a sharp decline in public services as state and federal funding remains uncertain.

“We’re going to do the best we can with the money we have,” said Public Works Director Jessica Stutzke.

Stutzke presented a revised budget to the Shoshone County commissioners Tuesday, slashing $1.6 million, which is 40% of her original $4.2 million proposal submitted just months ago.

The cuts are driven by the sudden loss of Secure Rural Schools funding, declining state revenues and a recent request from the Idaho Association of Counties urging counties not to include state general fund revenue in their budgets.

Visibly emotional, Stutzke outlined the impact: nine of the department’s 24 full-time positions could be eliminated, and one employee’s hours will be reduced.

She had already trimmed $800,000 from the budget before receiving the IAC’s July 29 email, which forced her to reopen the proposal and make another $800,000 in reductions.

Every fund not tied to a contract was either reduced or removed. Major cuts include $45,000 from the diesel budget, $18,000 from heavy machinery maintenance, $65,000 from road striping, $100,000 from chip oil and $124,000 from leased equipment. 

“These are the areas where the public will feel the sting,” Stutzke said.

To offset the loss of full-time staff, Stutzke plans to create 10 temporary, hourly positions without benefits for peak seasons. With six current vacancies, only three employees would receive layoff notices, and they’d be first in line for the temporary roles if interested.

The commissioners thanked Stutzke for her efforts.

Stutzke said that aside from a small allocation in 2019, her department has operated solely on revenue, not county levies, allowing other departments to benefit more from local taxes.

Established in 2000, the SRS program supports rural counties and school districts affected by reduced timber harvesting on federal lands, which are exempt from local property taxes. SRS must be reauthorized annually by Congress. Shoshone County receives the second-highest SRS allocation in Idaho. 

The IAC’s recommendation for counties to avoid relying on general fund dollars for ongoing expenses is driven by a multimillion-dollar reduction in the fund by the Idaho Legislature, which they worry could signal the start of a longer-term decline, according to an email from IAC Director Sara Westbrook. 

Commissioner Jeff Zimmerman previously highlighted the challenge of federal land ownership in the county.

“Shoshone County is unique in that roughly 80% of real property is federally owned, with a small percentage owned by the state,” Zimmerman said. “With our rugged terrain, there’s not a lot of area to build. We will never have a property tax base sufficient to fund and sustain our county.”

Stutzke said there was an attempt to include SRS in the recently passed One Big Beautiful Bill, but it didn’t make it out of committee. However, she’s seen SRS funding added through later legislation. If that happens before the budget is adopted Sept. 8, she’ll be able to restore the funds.

Commissioners have already held budget workshops for several smaller departments and plan to address larger offices in the coming weeks.