Bannock County Commissioners vote in 2026 budget with promises to try and restore non-profit funding
Sam Ross
POCATELLO, Idaho (KIFI)– Bannock County Commissioners voted unanimously to implement their controversial 2026 proposed county budget at a regular meeting on Thursday, August 28.
The budget has drawn sharp criticism from Bannock County residents and non-profit organizations for its drafted 14% raises to the Board of Commissioners and cuts to programs like the Aid for Friends homeless shelter, the Pocatello Free Clinic, and the Veterans Memorial Building.
At the commissioners’ meeting on Thursday morning, Commissioner Ken Bullock said funding cuts were made in an effort to lower taxes for residents, but admitted cutting non-profit support may not have been the best course of action.
“One of the biggest mandates we have from the county is to keep their property taxes low; that is probably the number one mandate–we try,” said Commissioner Bullock. “Sometimes in our efforts, maybe we miss, and we probably did as we got down to it. One of the areas that we probably did miss a little bit was some of the charities, some of the non-profits.”
Commissioner Bullock also said the board’s raises were drafted using funds previously allocated to a commissioner’s chief of staff’s job position (with a $75,000 annual salary), which was not filled this year, and the raises would not come from cuts to area non-profits.
Because the proposed budget has already been published, commissioners voted to pass the budget with plans to add revisions, potentially reinstating some county support to cut non-profits.
“I, like Commissioner Bullock, apologize for my narrow view and some of the incorrect information I had,” said Bannock County Board of Commissioners Chair Jeff Hough. “…I’ve been looking for ways to restore some funding to some of the nonprofits that we’ve talked about; we don’t have a solution today, but we have a path forward… I think we can find a way to do some things a little bit differently and correct the wrong.”
Commissioner Hough said budget revisions for county support of local non-profits could come in the next couple of weeks.
For more information or to view the county’s fiscal year 2026 budget, you can visit the Bannock County website.