Bozeman commissioners decided to put a first responder levy and fire station construction bond on the ballot in November. Now, Bozeman residents will decide whether they want to fund additional police and fire staff as well as the construction of a new fire station.
If approved, the first levy would fund 38 staff positions in the Bozeman Police department and 25 new hires in the fire department. The police staff would include a majority of sworn officers, as well as eight non-sworn support staff. A priority of the new officers would be to establish a dedicated traffic unit.
Interim City Manager Chuck Winn said the last significant staffing increases in these departments came after a voter approved levy in 2007.
"Although we have made important improvements to facilities , staffing remains our single biggest challenge in public safety. Bozeman has nearly doubled in size since we last proposed a mill levy," Winn added.
Census data shows a 43% increase in the Bozeman population between 2010 and 2020.
A majority of the proposed fire department hires would be dependent on the bond passing, which would afford $18 million to construct a new fire station on the fast growing west side of Bozeman.
Fire Chief Josh Waldo said current response times are more than four minutes beyond the national standard.
If approved, the new first responder hires would be added incrementally over five years and the costs to homeowners would also increase gradually over time. The additional hires would cost the median single-family homeowner around $6 a month at first and grow to around $35 by 2030.
The construction bond would remain relatively consistent with the estimated cost to the median single-household homeowner at $4.28.
