MISSOULA — Citing an opportunity to fund more projects, members of the Missoula City Council on Wednesday agreed to increase the annual allocation to the city's neighborhood projects program.
While city officials anticipate another tight budget this year, council voted 7-3 to increase the annual allocation to the program by $15,000.
“We have way more requests typically per year than we have money for,” said council member Daniel Carlino, the measure's sponsor. “The funding sources could come from anywhere, really. We're missing out on a lot of cool, really creative projects right now.”
The neighborhood fund grants have been around for years and help pay for small community projects, from murals to signs. The program makes available $20,000 annually and caps individual awards at $6,000.
Wednesday's action increases the pool of funds to $35,000, ensuring that a greater number of projects may receive funding. In past years, the city has received more applications for funding than available grants.
“It keeps our neighborhoods unique,” said council member Sierra Farmer. “It's a small amount that makes a big difference.”
However, council members Gwen Jones, Stacie Anderson and Mike Nugent expressed concern over pledging more funding to a program before annual budgeting begins.
The city's budget in each of the past few years has faced an imbalance, and this year is expected to bring similar challenges. They also contend that the program should be revised to ensure any funding that's available is equally spread to all neighborhoods.
“To me, this is a budget discussion. We're going to have to find the money somewhere,” said Jones. “I know this isn't a lot. I think it's great work, but some neighborhood councils are far more active than others. I'd like to see it reworked to spread it around Missoula a little more.”
City staff said the program often provides only partial funding to projects due to a lack of funding. The alternative, they said, would be to fully fund fewer projects.
Either way, increasing the program's funding will ask more of city staff, according to city CAO Dale Bickell
“It's a minimal amount. But the capacity of our staff to do more projects is tough at this time,” Bickell said. “While this adds capacity for individual projects themselves, it doesn't add capacity for our staff time.”
Supporters of boosting funding for the program said that with Missoula's growth, new neighborhood councils will likely form. And as new neighborhoods emerge, funding for neighborhood projects should also grow.
“With the growth our community is seeing, I can see additional new neighborhood councils west of town in the Sxwtpqyen area, and potentially elsewhere,” said council member Eric Melson. “We've all been the beneficiary of these vibrancy projects, whether it's the beautification of a traffic circle or gateway signage.”
City Council will finalize its vote later this month.
