Blue Ridge council adopts 2026 all‑funds budget, removes retirement 'rule of 80' from package

The Blue Ridge City Council voted unanimously to adopt resolution BR2025-12, the city's all‑funds budget for fiscal year 2026, after a roll-call vote that recorded five affirmative votes.

Council proceeded with the adoption after a motion to remove a section of the budget that implemented a "rule of 80" retirement provision; that language was struck from the version approved so the incoming council may amend or restore it at its discretion. City staff described the budget as balanced and meeting state legal requirements for adoption.

Council members and staff acknowledged that several fiscal processes tied to the 2024 and 2025 fiscal years remain incomplete. Staff said the city is working through a delayed audit and additional federally required single‑audit procedures that have extended the calendar for finalizing bookkeeping and official audit signoffs. Officials said those outstanding audit tasks did not legally prevent the council from adopting a 2026 budget by the statutory deadline, but that amendments may be necessary once audits are completed.

The resolution adopting the budget was identified in the meeting record as BR2025-12 (the agenda contained a conflicting label in one place but staff confirmed the correct identifier). Council recorded a formal roll call: the five members present voted in favor and the budget was declared adopted.

Next steps the council discussed include providing the incoming governing body opportunities to review line items and to amend the budget as needed after audit work and additional coding of revenues and expenditures are completed.