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Residents press for more police staffing; suggestion for mill‑levy funding raised
Summary
Speakers at the April 3 study commission hearing raised public safety concerns and described a recent exchange in which the police chief asked for 20 officers but the commission approved funding for seven and said additional hires would require a mill levy.
Public comments at the April 3 Bozeman study commission hearing included complaints about public safety staffing and the pace of growth. A speaker who attended recent city meetings described remarks by public safety officials and reported the commission’s tentative response to staffing requests.
A resident who said they attended an earlier meeting relayed that the police chief had asked the commission for 20 additional officers, stating the department was short staffed. “He says, there's 2 guys out there tonight because I'm here,” the resident said. The commenter reported that at a subsequent meeting the commission approved funding for seven new officers in 2025 and indicated that further increases would require voters to approve a mill levy.
Speakers linked police staffing to growth and development, and some urged that developers or new development pay for associated public‑safety and infrastructure costs rather than placing all burdens on existing residents. The speaker who described the police request also criticized the distribution of other budget items — for example naming a roughly $750,000 allocation to homelessness work within a $66 million budget — and framed those spending priorities as a point of contention.
Ending: The study commission did not act on public safety funding at the hearing. Commissioners said budgetary priorities and growth‑related service needs will be part of the study commission’s listening and potential study topics going forward.
