Nez Perce County passes $62.8 million budget

This article has been changed to reflect that the Nez Perce County has $100,000 for the Lewiston-Nez Perce Regional Airport as a placeholder for any potential grants.

The Nez Perce County Commissioners passed its budget for 2025 for a total of $62.8 million.

Nez Perce County Auditor Patty Weeks said the budget was passed Tuesday night by county commissioners Don Beck, Doug Havens and Doug Zenner. While some of the changes to the budget were typical expenditures, some additions were made in response to situations that arose in 2024.

One was the result of the Gwen Fire, which burned areas in Nez Perce County in July.

“We have found it’s a priority to improve communications with first responders,” Weeks said.

The mountainous terrain of the area makes it difficult for cellphone service to connect firefighting efforts. The county is looking into purchasing a microwave simulcast repeater, a device that would transmit a signal using a GPS to avoid interference between radio sites. The cost for that device would be $640,000 but Nez Perce County has $440,000 so far and is looking at grants to fund the rest. That brings the cost of emergency communication to $3.04 million.

The county is also adding a cybersecurity position after an email came through from the Idaho Supreme Court that turned out was a scam email. Weeks said those types of cyberattacks warranted the new position.

“We just have to up our game to protect our citizens’ information and employee information,” Weeks said.

The other expense that was added to the budget is the capital project fund, which is the new courthouse project. There is $7.7 million for the courthouse that is expected to be completed in May.

The Nez Perce County budget is also missing funds for public defense. The cost for public defense will be taken over by the state starting Oct. 1, which means it’s no longer part of the county budget. The county is still paying for the prosecutor’s office. The justice fund includes pay for district court clerks, jail, prosecuting attorney and the sheriff for a total of around $16 million.

Nez Perce County has $100,000 for the Lewiston-Nez Perce Regional Airport as a placeholder for any potential grants. 

Brewster may be contacted at kbrewster@lmtribune.com or at (208) 848-2297.