Jerome County | minutes | meeting 2026-09-08 | Commissioners Meeting
source: https://www.jeromecountyid.us/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Minutes/_09082026-1703

Tuesday, September 8, 2026
Page 1 of 6
JEROME COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
Tuesday, September 8, 2026
PRESENT: Ben Crouch, Chairman
       Charles Howell, Vice Chairman
       Art Watkins, Commissioner
       Ryan Treanor, Deputy Clerk
Meeting convened at 9:00 am.
Commissioner Reports
Commissioner Watkins – Commissioner Watkins reported that he attended the rotary meeting. 
There was a presentation from the 4H kids. He attended the Snake River Canyon Parks board 
meeting. Then he went to the South Central Community Action building and helped with signing
checks. 
Commissioner Howell – Commissioner Howell reported that he had an interview about the 
removal of the flock camera money and moving that to another section of the budget for wages. 
Commissioner Crouch – Commissioner Crouch reported that he attended the Frontier 
Community Resources committee meeting. There was a discussion regarding the committee’s 
budget and an employee handbook. He attended the airport board meeting. Then he went to the 
overlook location before his interview. Later he attended an interview over the radio. He 
discussed the ongoings of the county. 
Sheriff Detention Budget Discussion
Staff present: Gary Taylor, Chad Kingsland, Tracee McKim, Marisella Aguirre, and Cy Lootens
Gary stated that the A budget that deals with wages has two different sides in the sheriff’s 
department. One is regarding the normal deputies and the other deals with the jail deputies. He 
discussed the jail side of the budget for wages and how he can keep under the budget for the 
upcoming fiscal year. 
Commissioner Howell moved to approve the moving of $44,000 from the b 
budget of the detention budget to the a budget of detention and $6,729 from 
justice general to the d budget. Seconded by Commissioner Crouch. The motion 
passed with a unanimous vote.
Tax Deed Auction
The Commissioners held a tax deed auction on the front steps of the Jerome Administration 
Offices Building. The auction was held for four different properties that were taken in the tax 
deed process. The four different properties were sold for $125,000, $51,000, $56,000, and 
$39,000.

Tuesday, September 8, 2026
Page 2 of 6
Evaluation
Staff present: Andrea Gonzalez
Commissioner Crouch moved to go into executive session per Idaho Code 74-
206(1)(b) for personnel. Seconded by Commissioner Howell. The motion passed 
with a unanimous roll call vote.
Executive session started at 11:03 am and ended at 11:36 am.
Evaluation
Staff present: Mark Reyes
Meeting recessed at 11:48 am.
Meeting reconvened at 1:22 pm.
Evaluation
Staff present: Matthew McGregor
Commissioner Watkins moved to go into executive session per Idaho Code 74-
206(1)(b) for personnel. Seconded by Commissioner Howell. The motion passed 
with a unanimous roll call vote.
Executive session started at 1:23 pm and ended at 3:12 pm.
Evaluation
Staff present: Kirsten Hartley
Evaluation
Staff present: Marty Luhr
Evaluation/Juvenile Probation Car Repair
Staff present: Mario Umana
Mario stated that there is an issue with one of the juvenile probation vehicles. He is needing to 
have some repairs made and received a quote for the repairs. The total of the quote is $1,110.75.
Commissioner Crouch moved to approve the expenditure of $1,110.75 to get the 
juvenile probation vehicle repaired. Seconded by Commissioner Howell. The 
motion passed with a unanimous vote.

Tuesday, September 8, 2026
Page 3 of 6
Executive Session Per Idaho Code 74-206(1)(b) for Personnel
Staff present: Jesse Vallez and Mike Seib
Commissioner Crouch moved to go into executive session per Idaho Code 74-
206(1)(b) for personnel. Seconded by Commissioner Howell. The motion passed 
with a unanimous roll call vote.
Executive session started at 4:03 pm and ended at 4:49 pm.
Legal Counsel/Court’s Request for County to Pay for Public Defender for Indigent 
Defendant in Civil Case
Staff present: Mike Seib and Jesse Vallez
Mike stated that there is something weird that is still the requirement of the county to help with 
paying for indigent cases in certain court cases. If the case is not paid for then there will be 
nothing that can go forward with the case. The Board asked what the cost of the case would be. 
Mike reported that it would be up to the Board to decide how much to offer per hour for the case.
The Board stated that they would be willing to help cover the costs and discuss the amount 
required at a later time.
Evaluation
Staff present: Jesse Vallez
Commissioner Howell moved to go into executive session per Idaho Code 74-
206(1)(b) for personnel. Seconded by Commissioner Watkins. The motion 
passed with a unanimous roll call vote.
Executive session started at 4:56 pm and ended at 5:15 pm.
Adopting of Official Fiscal Year 2026-2027 Budget
Staff present: Cy Lootens, Tracee McKim, Matthew McGregor, Mario Umana, and Mark 
Swenson
The Board is meeting to discuss the upcoming fiscal year budget for 2026-2027. Cy stated that 
he has two resolutions for the budget. It includes all of the totals and what will be carried 
forward. The Board wanted to note that the budget has been hard this year and has been worked 
on for several months now. There were a lot of things that were cut to get to where the budget is 
now and a large help came from changing insurances. The Board also wanted to thank Cy and 
Tracee for all of their work with the budget. 
Commissioner Howell moved to adopt resolutions 2026-29 and 2026-30, and to 
accept the budget as presented for fiscal year 2026-2027. Seconded by 
Commissioner Crouch. The motion passed with a unanimous vote.

Tuesday, September 8, 2026
Page 4 of 6
Discussion: The overall levy rate from the previous year has decreased by 19 
cents. In 205 it was $3.43 per $1,000 and in 2026 it is $3.24 per $1,000. 
Commissioner Crouch wished to recuse himself from voting on the fair board and
Jerome 20/20 sections of the budget. This is due to him sitting in on both boards 
as a non-voting member and to prevent any conflicts of interest that may come up
from this.
Sign and Approve Claims
Commissioner Watkins moved to approve claims the claims as presented by 
staff. Seconded by Commissioner Howell. The motion passed with a unanimous 
vote.
To see an image of the report please see page 6 of the minutes.
Read and Approve Minutes
Commissioner Crouch moved to approve the minutes with the approved updates.
Seconded by Commissioner Watkins. The motion passed with a unanimous vote.
Adopting of Official Fiscal Year 2026-2027 Ambulance District Budget
Staff present: Cy Lootens and Tracee McKim
The Board is meeting to discuss the upcoming fiscal year budget for the ambulance district. Cy 
stated that he has two resolutions for the ambulance district budget. There is a total to be carried 
forward in the amount of $41,404.
Commissioner Crouch moved to adopt resolutions 2026-31 and 2026-32, and to 
pass the ambulance district budget for the upcoming fiscal year of 2026-2027. 
Seconded by Commissioner Howell. The motion passed with a unanimous vote.
Discussion: The levy rate for the ambulance district budget went down two cents. 
In 2025 it was 25 cents per $1,000 and in 2026 it is 23 cents per $1,000.
Proclamation for Approval of Falls Prevention Awareness Month
The Board reviewed the proclamation from the College of Southern Idaho regarding the Falls 
Prevention Awareness Month. There were some spelling and grammatical errors that were 
recognized during this process. The Board decided to return to this topic on a future date once 
the errors in the proclamation were corrected.
Meeting adjourned at 5:37 pm.

Tuesday, September 8, 2026
Page 5 of 6
________________________
______________________________
Ryan Treanor, Deputy Clerk
A. Ben Crouch, Chairman
______________________________
Charles M. Howell, Commissioner
______________________________
Art Watkins, Commissioner

BUDGET TOTALS

DEPARTMENT
CLERK
ASSESSOR

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HUMAN RESOURCES

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CORONER

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PAYROLL ACCT PAY GRAND TOTAL
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$ 325.00 | $ 325.00

$ 2,718.88 2,718.88
3,630.19 3,630.19

$ 21,126.51

CHARITY

21,126.51

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LANNING & ZONING

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$1,895.59
31,629.46 31,629.46
61,667.00|$ 61,667.00

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APITAL FAIR
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LECTION CONSOLIDATION

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$ - |$ 359,081.12 359,081.12