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Blufftown officials preview amended FY2025 and tentative FY2026 budgets, highlight roads and capital projects
Summary
Town Manager Erin Nelson told the Blufftown Council the proposed amended FY2025 budget would rise to about $1,000,000 from the adopted $635,000, driven largely by capital-project transfers; the tentative FY2026 budget (roughly $1.2–1.3 million) emphasizes roads, grants and several capital projects, with fund balances rolling forward.
The Blufftown Council on May 13 received an overview of the proposed amended fiscal-year 2025 budget and a tentative fiscal-year 2026 plan, with town manager Erin Nelson saying the amended 2025 total would be "about 1000000 dollars," up from an adopted $635,000.
Nelson said the increase is driven mainly by transfers from capital projects into the general fund and by planned capital work: "Of that million dollars, we do have a couple of things in the general fund that are earmarked, as their own separate items," she said, highlighting a roads fund that includes a roughly $198,000 rollover into FY2026. She added that the proposed fund balance rolling into FY2026 is about $84,000.
Why it matters: the drafts lean heavily on capital projects and grants rather than recurring increases in operating levies. Nelson described the tentative FY2026 budget as "baking in a lot of projects," estimating total appropriations in the $1.2–1.3 million range and noting the roads department would be funded at about $312,000 with an increased FY2027 fund balance projection.
Council members pressed the administration on revenue assumptions. Nelson said adjusted revenue is up largely because of capital-project transfers (a potential $335,000 in capital transfers was discussed), and that without those transfers adjusted revenue would be roughly $100,000 higher than the adopted forecast. She also warned of projected decreases in tax receipts: "Overall tax revenue collected is estimated to decrease by about 26%," she said, and called out a projected 33% decrease in resort tax and a 35% decrease in sales tax in the draft for FY2026.
On operating costs, Nelson listed several expense changes that affect the FY2025 amendment and FY2026 planning: adding the building department into administration, hiring interns, an administrative director transition that shifts duties (and changes payroll lines), higher IT and software costs, and a modest projected rise in legal fees. "Legal fees versus the approved budget of $87,000, it looks like we're gonna come in right around 92 to 93,000," she said.
Council discussion covered whether to pursue a property-tax increase through the truth-in-taxation process. One council member said they did not favor raising property taxes this year; another urged the council to monitor rates so any future increase would not appear sudden to residents. Nelson said she did not build a property-tax increase into the draft and would prepare a June resolution to set a tax rate if council chooses to proceed.
The budget packet, Nelson said, is posted on the town website's budget tab and will be the subject of a public hearing scheduled for Thursday, May 22 at 9 a.m.
Next steps: Nelson said staff will refine line-item numbers ahead of the May 22 public hearing and bring final resolutions to the council in June. The council encouraged members and the public to review the online PDF and submit written comments before the hearing.
