Nelson County adopts FY 2026 budget; approves school-budget adjustment and $150,000 for fifth bus

Nelson County supervisors on June 25 adopted the fiscal year 2026 budget and appropriations totaling $125,036,741 and approved an amendment to the school fund that provides $150,000 for a fifth school bus.

The action came during a continued meeting of the Nelson County Board of Supervisors, which first approved a separate FY 2025 budget amendment (resolution R20 25-47) earlier in the session. The FY 2026 budget adoption and appropriation were handled under resolutions R20 25-45 (budget adoption, as amended) and R20 25-46 (budget appropriation).

Board members debated a proposed $85,221 adjustment to the school budget and whether the county should directly fund a one-time bus purchase from county reserves or allow the school fund to pay for it. Dr. Logan moved to approve resolution R20 25-45 as amended, setting the countywide total at $125,036,744 and adjusting the school budget by $85,221 while adding $150,000 for a fifth school bus to come from the school fund; another supervisor seconded the motion. The board approved the amendment in roll call voting with recorded votes including "No" from Supervisor Reagan; other recorded votes on the amendment were in favor.

During discussion, supervisors and staff explained the origin of the $85,221 figure. A county official described it as the difference created by applying a blanket 3% raise across positions rather than retaining larger, targeted pay increases for some staff; supporters of the larger school allocation said the school board has prioritized equalizing staff pay and that losing the additional dollars would make that more difficult. One supervisor initially proposed buying a bus directly from county reserves as a nonrecurring expenditure, but the adopted amendment directed the $150,000 to come from the school fund.

After the board amended the budget, members voted to adopt the appropriation resolution R20 25-46, with staff confirming that school fund revenues and expenditures would be adjusted to $33,000,007.90 and a bottom-line total of all funds of $125,036,741, based on the figures stated in the meeting. The board then moved on to other business.

The meeting record shows the board took multiple roll calls during the budget items. For the FY 2025 amendment (R20 25-47), recorded "Yes" votes included Dr. Lee, Mr. Parr, Mr. Rutherford and Mr. Reed. For the R20 25-45 amendment to the FY 2026 budget, the roll call recorded Dr. Lee, Mr. Barth and Mr. Rutherford as voting "Yes" and Mr. Reagan as "No." The appropriation (R20 25-46) was subsequently moved and seconded and recorded "Yes" votes included Ms. Farmer, Ms. Rutherford and Mr. Reed as spoken during the roll call exchanges; the meeting transcript records that the budget appropriation was adopted.

Discussion versus decision: supervisors debated options (including a county-funded one-time bus purchase and an $85,221 school-budget adjustment), directed staff to make the amended appropriation and then took formal votes—the amendment and the final appropriation were approved as recorded.

Key figures discussed in the meeting were: an adopted all-funds total of $125,036,741 (final, as spoken in the meeting), an $85,221 adjustment proposed to the school budget, and $150,000 allocated for an additional school bus. The transcript does not specify exact line-item accounting beyond those figures.

Looking ahead, the board did not adopt further spending changes beyond the numbers recorded on June 25; supervisors said they will continue to coordinate with school officials on implementation and timing of the bus purchase and personnel adjustments.