SANDPOINT — Bonner County workers will be awarded a four-day weekend in late November after Bonner County commissioners approved to remove a June holiday to give staff the Friday after Thanksgiving off.  

Unanimous approval of the switch came after an hour of deliberation, where commissioners discussed whether the transition was feasible for non-flexible departments such as the court services or Road and Bridge, among others.  

Following the fiscal year calendar, the new holiday will be effective for the upcoming Friday after Thanksgiving, Nov. 28, and will replace the holiday reserved for Juneteenth in 2026. For departments that are unable to take that day off due to demand or legalities, department heads will be given an opportunity to meet with Human Resources to discuss a floating holiday option.  

The decision was based primarily on a staff survey, which asked county employees to vote on three options — replace the Juneteenth holiday with the Friday following Thanksgiving, keep the Bonner County holiday schedule as is or allow individual departments to decide whether they will be open the Friday after Thanksgiving, where individuals will be required to take PTO for that day.  

The survey was sent to all county employees with an email. 

A total of 203 employees responded to the survey, with 184 respondents directly answering the survey. Out of those 184, 78% (144) stated that they’d rather have the day after Thanksgiving off, and 22% (40) of employees that participated said they’d rather keep Juneteenth off.  

Aside from having an extra day to spend with family, it was also brought up that the property tax deadline falls the day after Juneteenth, which has created some issues with the office being closed close to the deadline.  

On the opposite side of things, it was argued that the court services would have to remain open the day after Thanksgiving regardless of the change, whereas they would be able to be closed in June if the holiday schedule remained the same. Other county departments such as Road and Bridge would also have to remain open as their schedules are determined by weather and other outside factors.  

Commissioners Brian Domke and Ron Korn shared their favor of the schedule change, noting the tax deadline and that Juneteenth isn’t always on a weekday, whereas the day after Thanksgiving is.  

The decision to change the holiday schedule was approved unanimously, with discussions happening behind closed doors to work with county entities who are unable to take off the newly approved holiday.