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Billings police request 7.8% budget increase; chiefs cite contract costs and new technology investments
Summary
The police department described a proposed FY27 budget increase driven largely by contractual pay obligations and technology upgrades, including a $665,000 Axon transition paid this year and a records management system (RMS) that may require a future $1 million capital request and recurring subscription costs.
Billings Police Department leaders told the council Monday that their FY27 request reflects unavoidable personnel and contractual commitments and critical technology upgrades the department says are necessary to maintain response times and investigative capacity.
The department’s proposed budget would increase from an adopted FY26 level of roughly $35 million to a proposed FY27 figure near $37.8 million — a year‑over‑year increase the chief described as about $2.76 million, or 7.8% — with personnel costs and negotiated pay increases driving the largest share of the change. ‘‘The year over year change is driven almost entirely by obligations that we cannot avoid, negotiated wages, benefits, retirement contributions, and…
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