Public Safety in Great Falls: A Community Conversation About What Comes Next

By Jayson Olthoff | The Big Sky Standard

Public safety is one of those issues almost everyone agrees is important.

The harder questions come afterward.

How much public safety does Great Falls need? Are police, fire, emergency communications, courts and prosecutors adequately staffed? Is the city making the best use of the money it already receives? And if additional resources are necessary, are Great Falls residents willing to pay for them?

Those questions were at the center of a recent presentation by Shane Etzwiler ofElectric City Citizens for Public Safety, a local group working to educate residents and explore sustainable funding options for public safety.

The discussion is particularly relevant because Great Falls has been here before.

In November 2023, voters rejected both a proposed public-safety levy and a related bond measure. According to city records, the levy received 5,620 votes in support and 9,095 opposed. The bond proposal was closer, with 6,726 supporting it and 7,925 opposed.

The city has not placed a new public-safety levy before voters.

Instead, Electric City Citizens for Public Safety is trying a different approach: asking residents what they think before another proposal is developed.

WATCH: The Public Safety Question — What Does Great Falls Need?

Hear directly from Shane Etzwiler of Electric City Citizens for Public Safety as he discusses public safety needs, staffing, city finances, community growth and the organization's research into what Great Falls residents may be willing to support.

Starting With the Community

Etzwiler said the group's mission is to "educate, engage, and mobilize the Great Falls community in support of sustainable funding and resources for public safety."

That does not yet translate into a specific levy amount or election date.

Etzwiler said the organization is still gathering information about what residents believe, what level of funding they might support and when — or whether — another proposal should go before voters.

As part of that effort, the organization hired Lake Research Partners to conduct a poll of likely Great Falls voters.

According to results presented by Etzwiler, 449 likely voters were surveyed between June 24 and July 9.

The initial question found55 percent supporting a future public-safety levy, 35 percent opposed and 10 percent undecided. Etzwiler said 41 percent indicated strong support.

Those numbers deserve some context.

Montana Free Press reported that the poll carried a 4.6 percentage-point margin of error and that Electric City Citizens for Public Safety declined to release the actual questions, describing them as internal committee materials. Without seeing the wording and sequence of the questions, the public cannot independently evaluate how question construction may have affected the results.

That doesn't make the poll meaningless. It does mean the 55 percent figure should be viewed as a snapshot of the organization's research rather than evidence that voters have already decided the issue.

Public Safety Departments Receive High Marks

One finding from the poll stood out beyond the levy question.

According to Etzwiler's presentation, respondents viewed Great Falls' public-safety agencies overwhelmingly favorably.

Great Falls Fire Rescue received a 97 percent favorable rating, the 911 emergency communications center received 91 percent and the Great Falls Police Department received 89 percent.

The poll also attempted to determine why residents might support additional public-safety funding.

Etzwiler said respondents identified firefighter staffing, reducing crime and increasing public safety, and addressing police staffing as important concerns.

Those concerns come against documented staffing and workload challenges.

The city's own public-safety information states that Great Falls Fire Rescue currently staffs a response force of 13 members and cannot meet national standards for staffing or structure-fire response times. The city also says approximately half of fire and emergency calls overlap with another call.

The Great Falls Police Department has also reported staffing challenges. Following the failed 2023 levy, Police Chief Jeff Newton told commissioners that the workload had not disappeared simply because the levy failed.

The Budget Question

Perhaps the most important question surrounding any future levy won't be whether people support police officers or firefighters.

It will be whether residents believe the city has adequately demonstrated the need for additional tax dollars.

Etzwiler addressed that criticism directly.

He told the audience that residents skeptical of city spending should participate in the city's budget process and examine what departments request versus what ultimately gets funded.

He pointed to a lengthy list of city requests that have been reduced, deferred or left unfunded over the years, including requests involving police, firefighters, fire prevention, municipal court, prosecutors and other city operations.

That distinction matters.

An unfunded request does not automatically prove that a tax increase is necessary. City commissioners must weigh competing priorities with limited revenue.

But those requests can show where department leaders believe service gaps exist.

The City Commission itself has made public safety one of its 2026 priorities, stating that it intends to support the work of Electric City Citizens for Public Safety and do what it can within the existing budget to support police and fire requests.

Great Falls Already Said "No"

Any discussion about another levy also has to acknowledge what happened in 2023.

Voters rejected the operational levy by a substantial margin.

That vote cannot simply be dismissed as voters not understanding public safety.

Residents may have opposed the size of the request, the permanent nature of the levy, the tax impact, the way the proposal was presented, concerns about city spending — or a combination of those factors.

That is precisely why the current polling and education effort could become important.

If another proposal eventually reaches the ballot, residents should know exactly what is being requested, what it will cost, where the money will go and what measurable improvements the additional funding is expected to produce.

They should also be able to see what alternatives were considered before additional taxes were requested.

Growth Adds Another Dimension

Etzwiler also argued that Great Falls needs to look forward rather than simply evaluate today's public-safety demands.

Major industrial development could bring additional workers and families into the community. More residents, businesses and development can increase the demand placed on police, firefighters, emergency medical response, dispatchers, prosecutors and courts.

That raises another legitimate question:

Should Great Falls wait until additional demand arrives to increase capacity, or begin planning for it now?

There isn't yet a ballot measure requiring voters to answer that question.

Electric City Citizens for Public Safety says it hasn't determined an election date or even what a future levy should look like. The organization says its immediate focus is education, polling and community engagement.

That provides Great Falls with something it didn't have enough of before the 2023 vote:

time for a larger conversation.

The Big Sky Standard: Asking the Questions Before the Vote

Public safety shouldn't be reduced to two camps — people who "support public safety" and people who "don't want higher taxes."

Those positions aren't mutually exclusive.

A resident can strongly support police officers and firefighters while demanding accountability for taxpayer dollars. Someone else can believe city government is already spending too much while still recognizing legitimate staffing shortages.

The questions ahead are more complicated:

What level of public safety does Great Falls need?

What does it cost to provide it?

What resources are currently missing?

What can be funded within the existing budget?

And if there is still a gap, are residents willing to pay more to close it?

Electric City Citizens for Public Safety is making its case.

Those skeptical of another levy should make theirs as well.

And before anything reaches a ballot, Great Falls residents deserve enough information to weigh both.

That is where the conversation about public safety should begin.