Helena to ask voters for 21 new firefighters, 9 police officers in $5.4M March staffing levy

Helena will be asking voters to fund 21 additional firefighters and nine police officers in an upcoming March special election, the Helena City Commission decided Wednesday after months of discussion.

The March 9 mill levy election, which was selected on Wednesday and will be formally approved at an upcoming Commission meeting, will ask voters to approve an at-least $5.4 million request to expand the fire and police department staffing.

It’s a gamble considering the tight fiscal squeeze many voters are suffering, some city officials have said, but waiting would be an even bigger risk as the city population grows faster than emergency services can keep up with.

The Commission settled on the middle of three proposed “tiers,” or levels of potential new staffing.

If passed, it would add 19 firefighters, one fire captain and one fire lieutenant to the Helena Fire Department.

It would also add four patrol officers, two community resource officers, one crash investigator and two detectives to the Helena Police Department.

The mills are expected to add at least $44.79 in yearly property taxes for a $100,000 home, City Manager Alana Lake estimated. The owner of a $300,000 home would pay an additional $134.36 in taxes annually, and an owner of a $600,000 home would pay $310.09.

The costs for the new staffing and training, currently estimated at just under $5.4 million, are likely to go up as fire and police unions negotiate their contracts, she said.

Though the Commission considered aiming for a more expensive option, which would add the listed staff alongside two more patrol officers and three more firefighters, setting up emergency services for long-term growth, commissioners worried the public would reject the $6.2 million asking price.

A rejected levy would mean the city risks having an empty third fire station and even slower response times, Lake said.

In 2025, nearly half of all fire incidents occurred at the same time as another emergency, Lake said, and with its budgetary shortfall, Helena is only able to staff enough firefighters for two teams to be deployed at once. 

It means firefighters are often asked to triage emergencies and decide which calls to turn down, something the local firefighter union has said makes first responders nervous when seconds count.

Last year, HPD handled an average of 77 daily calls, meaning most of its limited manpower was spent handling active cases instead of background paperwork or community outreach programs.

Even if the tier Helena chose would mean asking for more funds down the road, Helena Police Department Chief Brett Petty said a passed ballot would buy fire and police 10 years of service before it needed additional manpower.

With 54 budgeted firefighters, HFD could have 12 firefighters on call at all times, filling the long-awaited third fire station north of the train tracks that is expected to handle 21% of Helena’s fire calls. That number boosts HFD’s response power to five manned apparatuses, such as engines or trucks, instead of the current two.

At 63 full-time equivalents (FTEs) in HPD, there would be approximately 10 patrol shifts instead of the current nine and more preventative outreach, traffic enforcement and neighborhood engagement, staff said.

The Commission informally made a decision on the public safety’s mill levy ask and date at Wednesday's administrative meeting, scheduling a vote on an official resolution with final numbers on Aug. 17. Though the data may shift, the cost is expected to hover around the $5.4 million estimate.

The city last went for a staffing levy in 2024, the same year voters narrowly approved the bond for Helena’s third fire station.

While the station was approved, the staffing levy it ran next to — which would have added 15 firefighters, eight police officers and a crash investigator — was not.