Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Municipal Budget topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Bluff council adopts tentative fiscal 2026 budget, schedules May 20 public hearing
Summary
The Bluff Town Council voted unanimously May 6 to adopt a tentative fiscal year 2026 budget and set a public hearing for May 20. Staff warned of an expected drop in tourism-related revenues and outlined provisional assumptions about grants, road funding and staffing changes.
The Bluff Town Council on May 6 unanimously adopted a tentative budget for fiscal year 2026 and set a public hearing for 5:30 p.m. on May 20. The council’s action opens a formal review period before the budget’s final adoption.
Erin, the staff member who led the budget presentation, told the council she expects an overall reduction in revenues next year driven largely by lower tourism-related receipts. Erin said tourism-linked line items were reduced by an estimated 25%–30% and that total revenues were averaging a projected decline closer to 20%–25% compared with current estimates. She also estimated building-permit revenue of about $10,000 in the coming year, noting the town only began issuing permits April 1.
Erin said federal, state and county grants and the town’s Class C road allotment are important budget cushions. For Class C road funds she included a tentative county match request of $55,000 (the maximum the road supervisor can request), but said that amount could change depending on planned projects. She also pointed to the town’s interest earnings in the Public Treasurers Investment Fund (PTIF), reporting a year-to-date return of roughly 4.03% and estimated interest income that could be reduced significantly if the council opts to withdraw $300,000–$400,000 from savings for capital projects.
On expenditures, Erin recommended increasing administrative capacity by converting a staff position into a salaried role to cover bookkeeping and meeting-notetaking duties. She said she has discussed the change with Malia Collins and proposed shifting more day-to-day transactional work to that position while retaining the town’s contracted accountant, Dave Sanderson, for oversight. The council discussed titles, supervision and a flowchart to clarify duties.
Erin presented a conservative audit fee and accountant line item for next year, proposed budgeted amounts for elections and technology replacement (noting device obsolescence effective Oct. 15), and outlined capital projects that may be timed into 2026 and later years. She emphasized the numbers presented were tentative and would be refined at the May work session.
Council members moved to adopt the tentative budget for public review and to set the required public hearing. The motions passed unanimously.
The council also voted to adopt an amended 2025 budget as part of the same motion to move forward with budget reconciliation and to ensure funds are appropriately appropriated for known projects.
The council will continue line-by-line work on the budget during the May work session and expects to refine estimates — particularly legal and capital-project expenses — before final approval in June.
