The Helena City Commission voted unanimously Monday night to add a safety levy and a 20-year bond onto the June 4 ballot to pay for new emergency services personnel and a third fire station.
Both Helena fire and police departments need to add staff to keep up with the needs of the growing city, according to department officials. If voters approve the safety levies, the fire department intends to hire 15 new firefighters, as well as add another fire station, while the police department will hire nine additional officers.
According to city staff, the combined cost of the additional police officers and firefighters is about $3.1 million a year, while a third fire station will cost $7 million, which will be paid off over 20 years.
While the city has grown, its emergency services have not kept up, Helena Fire Chief Jon Campbell said during the Monday meeting. In particular, the chief noted, the city does not have a fire station north of the railroad tracks, while about a fourth of the calls for assistance to the fire department come from that area of town.
Helena needs “to bring our emergency service capability up to the level that the community is demanding,” Campbell said.
If voters approve the levies to fund the additional personnel, property taxes on homes valued at $100,000 would increase about $43 a year. Homes valued at $300,000 would have about a $128 tax increase, and a $600,000 homeowner would pay about $256 more in taxes, according to city officials.
Additionally, if voters approve the construction of the proposed fire station, taxes on a $100,000 home would go up $7.64 in the first year. Taxes on a $300,000 home would go up $23 and $46 a year on a $600,000 home.
According to the city public information officer, the city will add information about the levies onto its website in a couple of weeks, along with background and staffing studies that were presented to the commission on Monday.
“I’m really excited to vote for this,” said commissioner Emily Dean said. “I think this will be a positive step in ensuring that our community has the resources it needs to continue to sustainably and safely grow, and I also think that we’ve approached this in a manner that is not unreasonable.”
In-depth, independent reporting on the stories impacting your community from reporters who know your town.
LATEST STORIES
Where air conditioning is most — and least — common in Montana
About 73% of occupied Montana homes had air conditioning in 2023, according to a new Census Bureau data series. But rates varied widely across the state, from nearly 96% in Custer County to less than 45% in Deer Lodge County. Montana’s overall rate is the fifth-lowest in the nation, and trails all of the states it borders.
A history runs through it: Zinke public lands bill follows long trail
Two decades of Wilderness debate took an unexpected turn on Sept. 9 when Montana Republican Rep. Ryan Zinke announced a bill creating 132,000 acres of new wilderness alongside 181,000 acres of forest restoration areas and 60,000 acres where motorized and bike recreation activity would be permanently authorized. Can Zinke get the bill through Congress before the end of the year?
A snazzy new nursing building in Billings’ medical corridor
PLUS: Community steps up to help families of West End tragedy.
