HELENA — The Helena city commission and emergency response officials came together Wednesday evening, putting a new public safety mill levy on the table, looking to fund emergency services and keep up with a growing demand.
“We want to ensure that we are able to provide a safe community that can continue to thrive, and that means making investments in our emergency services,” stated Mayor Emily Dean.
(WATCH: Helena begins consideration of a public safety mill levy)
The city says Helena’s population has grown by around a third from 2000 to 2023, and with that, the call volume for emergency responders has increased. However, police and fire staff size has remained mostly unchanged.
“Our projections for 2031 have actually ended up being the actuals for 2025,” Dean continued, “and so that means our demand is growing at a pace far beyond what we were able to foresee.”
Fire and police have done staffing studies in recent years.
For the fire department, research estimates a current need of over 50 firefighters, but they currently only have 33. This was based on research showing the ideal ratio of number of firefighters to residents.
At this time, the fire department does not have enough staff to support the third station that will begin construction soon.
The police are close to being fully staffed with 53, but officers are spread thin, performing multiple duties with less time to be on patrol.
Both departments say they’re outpacing projections for call volume and staffing numbers, not just this year, but even five years down the road.
The commission is looking at multiple options for how big the proposed levy could be,
“Our job at the city is to ensure that we are not just planning for today, but we are planning for the next 10, 20 years,” Dean said.
Officials are currently looking at plans that range from $4.5 million to $6.3 million, including annual salaries, onboarding costs, training, and equipment.
The cost would raise property taxes for residents, depending on home value. At the highest tier, a $600,000 home owner would pay $360 annually, or around $30 a month.
In preparing for the new proposal, officials look to learn from the failed 2024 levy. That levy was valued at $3.2 million and would have added 9 police and 15 fire staff.
Ahead of the election season, city officials hope to keep the public informed throughout the process.
“Helena is such a special place, and we want it to remain the place that we know and love,” Dean emphasized, “and continue to improve in all the ways that we can.”
The deadline for the city to submit its proposal is August 20 to make it on the general election ballot on November 3.
The commission plans to move forward with the conversation at a meeting on June 24th and will vote on the proposal at a full commission meeting on July 6.
