The 2024 budget the Bozeman city commission passed on Tuesday includes more money for affordable housing and an increase in public safety, among other priorities.
The nearly $318 million budget has around $155 million in capital expenditures, the largest of which is for a proposed community center. The city is considering funding most of the project with an upcoming bond.
$2.4 million was allocated to the city’s community housing fund, the fund that’s used to incentivize affordable housing and generate new housing units. Bozeman’s Mayor Cyndy Andrus says the budget reflects the goals and priorities of the community.
“We are allocating 8 mills to our community housing fund, which is an increase of 14 percent from 2023. It’s the most I’ve seen in my time on the commission,” she said.
The budget includes funding to hire a new police lieutenant and 4 more police officers. Deputy Mayor Terry Cunningham says the city hasn’t budgeted for new police officers since 2010.
“I am worried that we have a culture of indifference when it comes to the obeying some of our most obvious laws, speeding, running red lights…a whole host of things that are to be solved with enforcement,” he said.
The sustainability department’s budget will see an increase of 45 percent for things like installing electric vehicle charging stations.
The city also allocated $1.5 million to more than a dozen non profits, mostly providing social services. That’s about half million dollars more than last year. The non profit Human Resource Development Council was the largest recipient for public transit and homeless services.
City Commissioners at the meeting on Tuesday made several amendments to the budget including allocating $8,000 towards analyzing the economic impact of arts and culture and increasing the amount for mobile crisis from $150,000 to $200,000.
Bozeman’s 2024 budget decreases property taxes by 4.2 percent, but increases fees including street maintenance and water. Overall, city officials estimate the average homeowner will pay about 2.8 percent more than last year.
