Despite support from business owners, community members and some council members at Monday’s work session, the Montrose City Council on Tuesday took no action to correct a budget discrepancy that has left more than $238,000 in funding for Development and Revitalization Team programs in limbo.
The issue stems from a data-entry error in the city’s 2026 budget. According to the city, a budget line intended to contain $242,640 for DART professional and contract services was inadvertently entered as $4,200 before the budget was adopted by council in November.
The affected budget category funds a variety of economic development and beautification programs, including façade improvement grants, mural projects, public art initiatives and emergency restaurant repair grants.
City Manager Bill Bell told the council at the beginning of the discussion that they had at least a couple choices. One was to restore the funds as originally intended. The second was for the City Council to consider each project individually.
During the work session, Mayor Michael Badagliacco characterized the matter as a housekeeping issue, noting that the money has already been collected through the city’s Retail Sales Enhancement Fund.
“These dollars are already there being collected as part of the RSE, so this is really more of a housekeeping issue than anything else,” Badagliacco said.
Bell also pointed to notes from the city’s budget retreat last year indicating council intended to fund the programs at the higher amount.
DART Coordinator Michelle Wingfield said the organization has built a strong community-engagement process and expressed pride in the work completed over the past several years.
“We are very proud of the program we’ve built, specifically over the last few years,” Wingfield said.
Wingfield said DART meetings regularly draw between 20 and 40 participants and are used to build community consensus before projects move forward.
She said requiring individual projects to come before council for approval would slow the process and hinder the city’s ability to respond to businesses needing assistance.
“When people are reaching out for help and need assistance, we are able to just help them,” she said.
Anthony Russo, who handles business development, said several projects are already being affected by the uncertainty.
“I think as you look at the bigger picture, we’ve got two right now in the queue from the standpoint of façade grants,” Russo said. “We’ve got a third one that’s just holding their application until we solve this issue here today and in the next few meetings.”
Russo said one project involving a matching grant has been unable to proceed while awaiting resolution.
“All their work is stopped right now,” he said.
Council members generally acknowledged that the discrepancy resulted from an error.
“To agree with what the mayor said, the funds are there, they’ve been collected,” council member David Reed said. “It was an obvious error.”
Reed said he saw “no need quite frankly to belabor this point” and argued that disregarding the previous council’s intent would be disrespectful to members who participated in the budget process.
Reed emphasized he thought the issue should be resolved during the Tuesday regular meeting and could even be placed on the consent agenda.
Council member Adam Woodden, however, said he wanted additional time to review the issue and asked staff how many projects would likely require council approval and what impacts additional oversight would have on grant programs.
Council member Ed Ulibarri said he supported helping existing businesses but also voiced concern about the city’s finances but agreed support for existing businesses is needed.
Bell said that approximately $750,000 remained in the Retail Sales Enhancement Fund and that the money had already been collected.
Several in a packed council room of residents and business owners spoke in favor of restoring DART’s funding authority during Monday’s work session.
Business owner Kimberly McGehee, owner of SheShe Boutique, said her business has increased sales by 21% over the past three years and credited DART initiatives, including a façade improvement grant, with helping create a vibrant downtown.
Meditation Spaces owner Sangdrol Blanchard said her sales have increased by 110% during the past two years and said DART meetings gave her an opportunity to participate in shaping the community.
“I felt like I was a member of the community,” she said.
Developer and commercial real estate agent John Renfrow called DART “a huge tool in my toolbox in the community” and urged council to approve the correction.
Charles Vanderwist, another business owner, also encouraged council to maintain DART’s ability to make decisions quickly, saying the team’s ability to bring “spontaneity and spark to the downtown community” was important.
Although there was discussion Monday about potentially placing the matter on Tuesday’s consent agenda, no item related to the DART budget discrepancy appeared on the agenda. Pending any unforeseen circumstances, the city expects to put the issue on the next City Council agenda.
As a result, no action was taken and the affected grant programs remain on hold pending future council consideration.
Justin Tubbs is the Montrose Business Times editor. He can be reached by email at justin@montrosebusinesstimes.com or by phone at 970-765-0915 or mobile at 254-246-2260.
