Bluff council holds public hearing on amended 2025 budget and tentative 2026 budget; capital projects, generator and lighting grants highlighted

Bluff — Bluff Town Council opened a public hearing May 22 on a proposed amendment to the fiscal year 2025 budget and the town’s tentative fiscal year 2026 budget. Town Manager Erin Nelson said the 2025 amendment would increase both revenues and expenses by just over $1 million to reflect additional capital spending, and that the town expects a roughly $84,000 increase in fund balance to roll into the next fiscal year.

Nelson said much of the increased 2025 spending would fund capital transfers, specifically work related to the Bluff Community Center (referred to in meeting materials as the CCC building). "We would be pulling some additional funds out of capital projects specifically for the CCC building," Nelson said. She said staff are still finalizing accounting entries so certain projects (roads, airport) remain separately tracked even though they are nested under the general fund.

Why it matters: The amendment and the 2026 tentative budget set how the town will use one-time grant receipts and capital reserves for infrastructure and building renovations over the next two fiscal years. Council members and staff focused discussion on timing and accounting treatment for those transfers, on whether certain projects should be charged to the special revenue (capital projects) fund or the general fund, and on the timeline for awarding renovation and lighting contracts.

Key points from the hearing

- Capital transfers and CCC renovation: Nelson said staff expect to contribute roughly $320,000 toward the CCC renovation and are weighing whether that contribution should flow through capital projects into a special revenue fund or be recorded in the general fund before being spent. Nelson said she currently has the amount shown as coming out of the general fund in the draft budget and will confirm the accounting treatment with staff.

- Generator project and USDA grant: Staff described the generator project as a mobile trailer generator rather than a small portable unit. Nelson said the town is meeting with a USDA-affiliated contact and expects more time under the USDA grant but would like to make visible progress by September. "I think mobile generator is probably gonna be — so I might just make that change in my PowerPoint right now," Nelson said. She added that the project could require electrical changes that would trigger building permits.

- Electrical/lighting replacement RFP: Nelson said the lighting-replacement request for proposals (RFP) was released and staff reached out to about 50 firms and individuals. Because the dollar amount will exceed $3,000, the work must be performed by a licensed contractor; Nelson said the RFP includes a mandatory walkthrough in June at 11 a.m. (date in June not specified in the hearing). The RFP closes June 9 at 5 p.m.; staff plan to present qualified proposals to the council on June 10 for possible award.

- Roads and engineering: The roads fund is shown as a distinct line even though it is nested in the general fund. Nelson and council discussed several road projects (Calf Canyon, West/East Second and Rhodes-area work) and the need to budget for engineering. Jones & DeMille produced a quote for a town road-mapping engineering piece at about $7,500; Nelson said combined professional-services lines currently show about $19,500 for next fiscal year but she may recommend increasing that if additional invoices or projects arise.

- Grants and large projects: The draft 2026 budget includes a full playground grant in the revenue and expense lines, which materially increases the dollar totals shown for capital projects (Nelson said the playground totals roughly $200,000 with the town contributing about $13,000). Nelson said the town also has capital-project appropriations for a range of other items (CCC painting, accessibility work, cemetery block work).

- Solar panels and federal funding constraints: Nelson said the town has $150,000 set aside for Bluff Community Center solar but has tentatively scheduled that as a fiscal year 2027 project because Buy America / federal sourcing requirements tied to some grant funding could make installing panels on the CCC complex complicated. "Almost all the solar panels are made overseas," Nelson said, and the town prefers to deploy panels first where federal procurement rules are less restrictive.

- Community center and rental revenues: Charges for services in the draft budget show community-center rental revenue of about $8,350 and kitchen rental about $4,400 for the current fiscal year; Nelson said she reduced next-year projections slightly. Nelson said those revenues represent about 1.56% of the town’s non-roads, non-airport budget when combined.

- Elections budgeting: Nelson said fiscal 2025 shows no election expense and that election costs for a 2026 election should be budgeted in fiscal 2026. The draft includes $7,500 for the 2026 election (Nelson said the realistic expected cost is $3,500–$4,000 plus translation services) but she warned the council it might need to increase that line and that staff would confirm estimates with the county.

Budget posture and next steps

Nelson told council members she would perform one more pass on numbers after May closes and before the council votes on the final budgets, likely at a June meeting. She also said she will coordinate with finance staff (Dave) and roads staff (Michael Havocand) to confirm where county match dollars and outstanding invoices should be placed and whether to be conservative about assumed county match revenue.

Council and public reaction

Council members who spoke thanked staff for the work and for securing grants. Kathleen, attending in person, voiced support for staff: "You guys are working really hard. Just here to support you," she said.

Formal actions

The council did not vote on the budgets at the hearing; the meeting concluded with a motion to adjourn that carried unanimously.

Looking ahead: Staff plan to return finalized budget documents for council approval at a future meeting (Nelson mentioned a likely June vote after staff complete one last reconciliation). The lighting RFP is scheduled to close June 9 and qualified proposals may be presented to the council June 10 for an award decision.