Missoula departments outline FY27 budget requests; police, fire and prosecution seek added staff

Several Missoula departments used the budget-and-finance portion of the program to summarize FY27 requests and operational needs, signaling modest staffing increases alongside baseline maintenance asks.

Police Chief Mike Collier said the department handled "just over 57,000 incidents" in 2025, described three request categories for FY27 and said he is asking for one new full‑time officer as part of a larger plan to grow staffing over four years. Collier noted Missoula’s population appears in the host’s remarks as about 78,200 and described current staffing at 118 sworn officers.

Fire Chief Lonnie Rash said the department is in the planning phase for Fire Station 6, has hired an architect, and is evaluating right-sizing options and cost comparisons. Rash said the department requests roughly $880,000 in additional funds, primarily for new personnel including an assistant fire chief position to oversee emergency medical services and records/analytics.

Keith Worthington of the prosecution office asked the city for funding to add two prosecutor positions, a package Worthington said would cost about $288,000 (roughly $104,000 salary and $40,000 fringe per prosecutor). He cited heavy caseloads: an average active caseload of about 291 cases in calendar year 2025 and roughly 700 open files in the office at the time of the broadcast.

Central Services presented department baseline budgets and specific IT-transition requests: Eric Hallstrom reported IT baseline FY27 spending near $3.0–3.5 million with 13 FTEs, a $30,000 general‑fund software request and roughly $800,000 one-time transition costs to new vendor software.

None of the items reported during the broadcast recorded a final vote; staff and council will continue consideration during the budget cycle.