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Bluff reviews amended FY2025 budget, adopts tentative FY2026 numbers and keeps certified tax rate unchanged
Summary
Town staff presented an amended fiscal year (FY) 2025 budget and the FY2026 tentative budget, highlighted a large settlement payment and several grant-funded rollovers for the Bluff Community Center (CCC). Council agreed to present the tentative budget and certified tax rate at the special meeting for approval.
Town Manager Erin Nelson reviewed an amended fiscal year 2025 budget and the town’s tentative fiscal year 2026 budget at the Bluff Town Council work session on June 10.
Nelson said the “big item” in the amended FY2025 numbers is a settlement payment to Utah Denebakea that the accountant recorded as a non‑operating expense and which will be covered from the general fund. She also described fund balance appropriations moving into FY2026: $135,000 for the general fund, $28,000 for roads and $150,000 in capital projects for roads, plus a $135,000 general fund balance carryforward.
Nelson described grant‑driven special revenue activity related to the CCC (the town’s cooperative cultural center). She said the town drew down $23,000 from an EPA environmental justice “government‑to‑government” grant and has zeroed out other grant lines for FY2025 where funds were not received. She identified a special revenue fund balance of roughly $441,000 reflecting 90% of a community grant (GOEO) and remaining cultural capital funding being moved into the next fiscal year. "The next year is $372,000," Nelson said, describing the amounts she expects to carry forward.
Nelson said sales tax revenues have been adjusted to reflect receipts that were accrued for April–June and noted that, overall, sales taxes are up compared with earlier expectations for the amended FY2025 budget. For the FY2026 tentative budget she said sales tax projections were down roughly 30% versus the current fiscal year due to reasons she described to the council.
Nelson walked through federal and state grant lines in the FY2026 tentative budget, including generator and playground grants and a $55,000 county match that staff said was promised by Michael Pappakan. She said legal fees were adjusted to $67,500 for FY2026, the airport fund balance is budgeted to increase modestly, and capital project transfers remain in the plan.
On the certified tax rate, Nelson said staff completed the state certification form and proposed keeping Bluff’s rate the same as the prior year. "We're doing the same tax rate as last year," Nelson said. She added the only ways to change it would be by resolution to eliminate it or via a Truth in Taxation increase.
Next steps: staff will finalize any remaining numeric corrections Nelson flagged during the meeting and present the tentative FY2026 budget and the unchanged certified tax rate for approval at the town’s special meeting on June 10.
The council did not take a formal vote on the budget in the work session; a special meeting was scheduled to consider the FY2026 tentative budget and tax rate.
