COEUR d’ALENE — Even if Kootenai County commissioners levy 3% more property taxes in the coming fiscal year, they’ll need to make budget cuts to avoid a deficit. 

Commissioners took a first look this week at the proposed budget for fiscal year 2027. They’ll balance the budget across several deliberation meetings between now and late July. A preliminary balanced budget will be presented July 30, and a public hearing is scheduled for Aug. 26. Commissioners are expected to adopt a final budget Aug. 27. 

If commissioners take 3% more property taxes, the maximum allowable amount, they’ll face a $5.6 million budget deficit. With no tax increase, the board would need to cut $7.6 million from the budget to balance it. 

“It sounds like we have a few areas we need to look at,” Commissioner Bruce Mattare said during Monday’s budget meeting. 

Last year, commissioners adopted a $144 million budget for fiscal year 2026.

Personnel costs, also called the “A budget,” are expected to make up the vast majority of the county’s budget. Current personnel costs total $96 million, including benefits and taxes. 

The proposed personnel budget includes $7 million in funding for vacant positions, 40 of which have been unfilled for more than 100 days. The departments with the most vacancies are the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office (including vacancies in the jail, 911 center and among patrol deputies) and the prosecuting attorney’s office. 

County departments are requesting 12 new positions, which would cost about $1 million to fund. The positions requested by the prosecuting attorney’s office cost about $565,000, while those requested by KCSO cost about $370,000. 

Step increases for eligible employees on their anniversary date will cost an additional $762,000. Employees who are not sworn deputies see a 2% to 5% pay increase when they advance a step. 

The county’s cost for employee benefits is expected to increase from about $17,000 per employee per year to about $22,000 per employee per year. 

Finance director Brandi Falcon told commissioners that the main drivers of this increase are increases in the county’s stop-loss insurance, totaling about $500,000, and the rising cost of medical claims. 

Falcon said the county can mitigate these rising costs by increasing employee contributions or making changes to the health plan structure. 

New requests for operating expenses, also called the B budget, total $1.2 million over the current fiscal year’s budget. The largest of these requests is $988,000 from the county’s IT department, $500,000 from the sheriff’s office and $156,000 from the assessor’s office. 

New capital requests total $9.5 million. These include $5.1 million for general government requests and $4 million from Solid Waste. Falcon said the majority of these one-time expenses can be funded with interest revenue. 

“The board has to focus on making cuts to A and B budget, which are ongoing costs,” she said.