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Bay County adopts 2026 budget after amendment, board says deficit reduced to $1.88 million
Summary
The Bay County Board of Commissioners adopted the 2026 budget (resolution 2025-205) after approving an amendment clarifying wage-adjustment authority; the board said a line-by-line review reduced the projected general-fund deficit from about $4.18 million to roughly $1.875 million through transfers and corrections, and the budget includes investments such as $100,000 for marine patrol and payroll modernization.
The Bay County Board of Commissioners approved the county’s 2026 budget on Nov. 18, 2025, adopting Resolution 2025-205 after a proposed amendment to budget language concerning wage adjustments.
A commissioner moved to add language to paragraph 15 of the general appropriation that would clarify wage increases must follow the newly adopted method "except for wage adjustments made pursuant to reclassification through the budget process, which right is expressly reserved to the Board of Commissioners." The amendment was supported and adopted before the board voted to approve the budget as amended.
Board members described the outcome of a comprehensive, line-by-line review of the executive-submitted budget. As submitted by the executive, the budget initially projected a $4,183,000 use of general fund balance. Following review and adjustments, the board reported a reduced projected deficit of approximately $1,875,376 — an improvement the board attributed to $850,000 transferred from the VBA retiree health trust, $800,000 of corrected double-budgeting for claims, $400,000 in adjustments to retiree health contributions, and $257,846 of revised revenue estimates, for a total identified improvement of $2,307,846.
The board said none of the revisions included personnel layoffs. The adopted 2026 budget also includes a $100,000 investment in marine-patrol services and funding for automated payroll software intended to modernize county operations.
The budget passed on a roll-call vote and takes effect for fiscal year 2026 as adopted.
