Safe - Cooperative Security

The Business Improvement District's Cooperative Safety Program is designed to enhance both the Billings Police presence within the Downtown District as well as to bolster private Safety efforts at individual properties. This is done through the use of extra-duty police officers. Extra-duty officers are sworn, uniformed Billings Police who operate out of marked city vehicles and use City-issued uniforms and equipment. They operate in conjunction with the on-duty Billings Police. They are NOT off-duty police or private safety guards who often work independent for the on-duty police. These officers, often called resource officers, provide additional presence, visibility and assistance over and above what is already provided by the Billings Police Department. Our Dedicated Downtown Center Beat Officers are stationed at the Downtown Billings Alliance office and in other areas within the footprint (see map). If you would like more information about this program, call Lisa Harmon, Executive Director, Downtown Billings Alliance, @ 294-5060 or email: lharmon@downtownbillings.com.

Since January of 2010, Officer Shane Winden has been in place in downtown Billings and the response from merchants, property owners, and the downtown community has been very positive. Our members have expressed their support of the program, particularly of having an engaged, on the street officer who interacts personally with them day to day.

Officer Winden's position was made possible for the first 2 years using Tax Increment District (TID) funding and will be funded in subsequent years by way of TID and BID (private property owner assessments) funding.

Implementing the BID Safety Zone required expansion of the boundaries of the original 18 block Clean & Safe BID. On Monday, June 12, 2010 the Billings City Council unanimously passed the Ordinance that expanded our Business Improvement District.

Due to the implementation of the TID funded BPD Center Beat overlay, crime has fallen in downtown with incident call numbers CUT IN HALF in just one year. Unfortunately, the fear and perception of crime remains high. This Safety Zone BID expansion allows for two BPD officers attached to Downtown Billings and will continue to open channels of communication between law enforcement and the business community as well as the community at large. Public confidence has been bolstered, through the time tested old fashion out in the street interacting and walking/riding the beat. In a time of record deficits and budget cuts, we ensure through a public-private partnership that public safety is important to downtown as well as city-wide.

After just over one year of intense canvassing and dialogue with property owners in the initially proposed footprint, including many one-on-one meetings as well as publicly advertised “town hall” sessions, the BID Board settled on the final details for the expansion that are noted below.

Because the footprint was drastically reduced and the BID Board did not want to raise the assessment rate to the remaining property owners, in order to fund two full time officers, the BID will annually request that the N. 27^th Street TIFD participate in this program along with the owners. TIFD participation will amount to just over 17% of the cost of the annual program. The TIFD represents over 40% of the total BID land mass and public safety is an approved “project” within the urban renewal plan.

Total Square Footage of the Expansion: = 16,034,904 square feet or roughly 368.1 acres (map)

Property Owners in Expansion Area: 396

57 Property Owners representing over 60% (as required by code) of the total expansion area have signed the petition

893 parcels including over 3 condo-ed properties

Over 14% of all owners (60.3% of land – 9,665290 sq. ft.) support it via signed petitions and represent almost 40% of the total assessment fund. And signed petitions continue to arrive.

The overall average assessment to a property owner is $222.00

The law allows that if benefits derived by each lot or parcel are disproportional, the BID may use classification criteria, where each classification has its own rate. Here are we are accomplishing that through the method of assessment based on square footage. We have six classifications which BID law allows for in section 7-12-1133, f, of Montana Code Annotated 2009.

.00249 cents per square foot if total ownership is more than 3 Million sq. ft.

.00319 cents psf if total ownership is between 2 Million & 3 Million sq. ft.

.00224 cents psf if total ownership is between 1.1 Million and 2 Million sq. ft.

.00450 cents psf if total ownership is between 33,333 and 1.1 Million sq. ft.

$150 FLAT RATE divided by # of taxcodes if psf total ownership is less than 33,333 sq. ft.

$150 FLAT Rate divided by # of taxcodes within single condominium parcel

Assessments will begin in FY2012 (Fall of 2012 tax bills). The BID should raise approximately $90,000 from Safe Zone only assessments, annually. The remainder of the Center Beat BPD officer overlay will come from the original 18 block BID and the N. 27^th Street TIFD.

Business Watch is a wonderful program that we would like to bring to our Downtown. Business Watch functions much like the Neighborhood Watch programs you may already be familiar with: "neighbors" keep an eye on each other to help keep their community safe. Member organizations work together and with the Billings Police Department to reduce crime and the opportunity for crime in the area. Periodic informational seminars and training throughout the year increase awareness and can help prevent your business and your customers from becoming targets for crime. Every member organization receives a window decal identifying them as members of the Business Watch community. For more information about Business Watch, call the Business Improvement District at 294-5060.

The BID hosts, with the Downtown Billings Association, Business Watch training sessions. These community meetings focus on crime prevention and Safety tips presented by public safety professionals for the benefit of retail merchants, retail employees, residents and property owners. Topics of recent sessions have included "Check Fraud", "How to avoid identity theft" and "Personal Safety".

With our Dedicated Center Beat Officers (DCBO), we will be launching the Certified Crime Prevention Business Program. The Certified Crime Prevention Business Program is built around four main elements, which consist of written policies, training, Safety assessments, and liaison with the Billings Police Department. These four elements are broken down into requirements that must be fulfilled by the business seeking certification within the program. The purpose of the program is to prevent participating businesses from being victimized. This is accomplished by raising awareness and knowledge through written policies and training, implementing recommended Safety applications, and by increased
communication and cooperation between businesses themselves, and between the business community and the Police Department. There are many incentive and benefits for your business when you join the Certified Crime Prevention Business Program. The following are examples of such incentives and benefits:

BID safety zone