Broadwater County sheriff outlines reasons to keep mill levy level, seeks citizen advisory role ahead of May ballot

Sheriff Nick Rauser told the Broadwater County Board of Commissioners on Jan. 29 that he plans to ask voters to authorize up to the office’s current levy level on the May 6 mail-in ballot and urged commissioners not to reduce it.

The sheriff said the county’s population growth and a rising number of calls for service have increased demand on the sheriff’s office and that hiring and retention depend on funding the department can count on beyond a single five-year cycle. “People do not want us to lower it, and they want to see us grow as the county grows,” Rauser said.

Rauser described staffing shortfalls the office faces: one detective who also manages evidence and coroner duties, a school resource officer, and roughly eight deputies assigned across 10-hour shifts. He said the office has been stretched during busy weekends and multi-agency incidents and that response times can be long in remote parts of the county.

The commission read a separate commissioners’ resolution stating the county will allocate 34.4% of floating mills to public safety from fiscal year 2026 through 2030 for budgeting purposes; the board said final, voter-facing ballot language and a sheriff’s office resolution will be posted to the county website by Friday. Angie Paulsen, county clerk and elections administrator, confirmed the special purpose district and school elections will be held simultaneously on May 6 and will be mail-in only.

Rauser said ballot language under consideration would permit a levy “up to 39.93 mills” and that, if the measure passes, the sheriff’s office could set lower effective levy levels in subsequent budgets if growth in taxable value allows. He also told the commission he intends to form a citizens’ advisory group to review the sheriff’s budget annually and advise on whether the levy amount should be increased or reduced.

The sheriff urged transparency and local outreach, saying he has held community meetings across the county and posted a short online survey to gather input. “When this passes, I will try to get another board put together,” he said, describing a citizen panel that could meet during budget season.

Clerk and Recorder Paulsen told commissioners the county has recorded significant voter growth: 1,400 new or reactivated registered voters between the 2023 and 2024 Novembers, and Precinct 13 (Toston area) now has roughly 1,800 registered voters. The clerk warned that precinct lines and voting logistics may need attention if growth continues.

Next steps: commissioners said they will finalize ballot language and post it publicly by Friday so residents can review it over the weekend; the commission will discuss and may adopt final language at an upcoming meeting ahead of the May 6 special election.

The discussion was a policy-level briefing; no final ballot language or formal vote on placement of a specific levy amount was recorded during the Jan. 29 meeting.