Board agrees to funds transfer

SANDPOINT - Bonner County commissioners approved Sheriff Daryl Wheeler's request Friday to reallocate surplus salary funding to pay for equipment upgrades and to cover a shortfall in the department's fuel budget.

Commissioners Cornel Rasor and Lewie Rich approved Wheeler's pared-down funding request, resolving an impasse that cropped up earlier in the week.

Wheeler proposed shifting $158,000 from his department's salaries and wages budget to an operating budget to cover a $30,000 debt for fuel costs and a range of equipment upgrades, which included everything from new carpet and office equipment to video camera units for patrol officers and surveillance gear for narcotics agents.

Wheeler said the gas overage resulted from a budget line item decrease in last year's spending plan and a busy year for patrol officers.

The department has since instituted new policies concerning how long deputies will be allowed to let their vehicle idle at the scene and a new standard for "stationary" patrols.

The board approved on Tuesday additional funding for fuel and operational expenses at the jail, but held off on the equipment funding request because of its timing at the tail end of the fiscal year and the fact that other departments in the county had to forego budget enhancements because of declining revenues.

Wheeler winnowed the transfer request to the priority items: the gas funding, nine new desktop computers, 20 in-car video cameras, 10 wearable video cameras, the surveillance equipment and conversion kits for Glock pistols so deputies can train using .22-caliber ammunition instead of more costly .40-caliber ammo.