Ballot measure to shape Bozeman’s emergency services as city expands

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As Bozeman prepares for its upcoming election, residents will have the chance to vote on a significant measure that could shape the city’s future emergency services. The Bozeman First Responder and Levy Bond aims to address the growing needs of both the fire and police departments, as Bozeman’s population continues to boom. With over 20,000 new residents and 90 additional miles of roadway constructed since 2007, city officials say it’s time for a critical expansion to ensure public safety.

Bozeman Fire Chief Josh Waldo has been clear about the importance of the bond, which would fund the construction of a much-needed fourth fire station. 

“This would be the first new fire station the city has added since 2007,” Waldo said. “We’ve relocated and replaced some existing stations, but we’ve been at three stations for the last 17 years. This would be the first expansion or new station.”

This new fire station, planned for Fallon Street in the Urban + Farms development, will serve not just that area but the entire city. 

“It’ll service anywhere in the city that it needs to go,” Waldo said. “Some of our calls require one fire truck, some require two, some require three. Or if the fire truck, let’s say at the Bozeman Public Safety Center is already on a call, the next call in that area has to be answered by another fire truck from somewhere in the city. So it’s not just for that area—it can go anywhere in the city at any given time.”

Waldo emphasized that the bond would cover the costs of constructing the station and equipping it fully with fire trucks and gear. However, the mill levy will be crucial to staffing the new station and creating a quick response unit—a smaller fire department vehicle for more flexible, city-wide emergency response. 

“The mill levy provides us the staffing to staff that new fire station, as well as what we’re calling a quick response unit,” Waldo said. “In addition to that, it adds six new police officers per year for the next five years.”

The police department is also facing mounting pressures, with calls for service steadily increasing as Bozeman expands. Police Chief Jim Veltkamp noted the challenges of keeping up with the city’s growth. 

“Since 2007, we’ve added over 20,000 people to the city of Bozeman and 90 new miles of roadway,” Veltkamp said. “So for both our departments that means a lot more calls. For our department, the more people there are, the more calls for service we’re going to receive, the more cases we have to investigate, the more miles of roadway we have to patrol.”

Currently, Bozeman police are often responding to call after call, leaving little time for proactive policing. 

“The calls coming in from the community are what we call reactive calls because we’re responding to a call. We have to go to all of those,” Veltkamp said. “So as those continue to go up, we have less time for officers to do proactive calls. And a proactive call is a traffic stop, being present downtown at night, doing property checks and patrol checks from parks to checking buildings at night to make sure they’re secure.”

The levy would allow for the hiring of 30 new police officers over five years, adding six per year to help ease the burden on current officers and create room for proactive measures. 

“One of the main goals of policing is to be present in your community and proactive to prevent crime, not just to respond to crime after it’s already happened,” Veltkamp said. “That’s the point we don’t want to get to, where all we’re doing is responding to crime.”

In addition to the 30 new officers, the levy would also fund 11 support positions for both the fire and police departments, addressing critical behind-the-scenes roles like emergency management and information specialists. 

Waldo emphasized the importance of balancing immediate needs with future growth. 

“I think from a long-term perspective, we’re trying to catch up to the growth, but there are positions in here to help us maintain,” Waldo said. “We’ve been very thoughtful about addressing not only where we are today, but where we’re going to be in the future.”

The planned fourth fire station is a key part of preparing for that future. Waldo emphasized that while it would help the city “catch up,” it would also position Bozeman to handle further growth. 

“We’ve generally had very positive feedback [from the public],” Veltkamp said. “We’ve gotten a lot of support and a very clear recognition from the community that we need to add additional capacity to respond to calls in a timely manner, investigate cases, be able to watch for reckless driving, get to medical calls faster.”

Both chiefs are aware that the bond’s position on the ballot could present a challenge. 

“It’s going to be on the back of your ballot because it’s a very large ballot,” Veltkamp said. “I would hope that people have been educated enough to make the right decision and that it’s important enough that regardless of where it is on the ballot, that ideally wouldn’t change the likelihood of it passing or not passing.”

If the measure passes, both departments will immediately begin recruiting new personnel. 

“If we’re successful, there’ll be a ton of communication about everything from recruitment for both of our organizations,” Waldo said. “We’ll be out hot and heavy looking for applicants who want to be police officers or firefighters.”

For those interested in learning more about the First Responder Levy & Bond, visit bozeman.net/safety, contact either Josh Waldo or Jim Veltkamp, or come by the Public Safety Center.  

“We want to make sure we’ve educated people on the mill levy and bond to avoid confusion and allow people the chance to vote,” Veltkamp said.