A group of billings business leaders say more needs to be done to deter crime and house criminals.
The business owners say if crime continues as is, it will impact the area in several negative ways.
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The Yellowstone County Detention facility has a capacity of 434 but regularly exceeds 600 inmates.
“Quite honestly, if there were 1000 beds right now, it could be filled today,” said Lilly Corning, vice-president of Corning Companies.
Corning is part of a group pushing to add to or build a new jail because of the impact of crime on local businesses.
“This is not a unique issue,” Corning said. “Everyone across the country is facing some version of this.”
The Yellowstone County Detention facility master plan projects a need of 1,277 beds by 2049.
“There's no silver bullet here like we wish there was,” Corning said.
The recommended or preferred plan would add 512 beds to increase the capacity to 1,040 and more than double the number of jail employees to 243, all at an estimated cost of $225.7 million.
“Either we're paying for it in tax dollars or we're paying for it in property damage or decreased home values,” Corning said.
“The cost of doing nothing and continuing to do nothing is going to impact us as residents and our economy,” said John Brewer, Billings Chamber of Commerce president & C.E.O. “And we're not going to get out of this hole that we're in until we address it and we need to address it now.”
Brewer, says property crime and violent crime have been reduced and the community has come together to work on substance abuse, homelessness, and a temporary hold facility, set to be ready by Thanksgiving.
“We've had this community strategy for several years,” Brewer said. “And we're at a point now where the next piece of the puzzle is expanding the detention facility.”
Corning says law enforcement, the city council, and county commissioners have been working on public safety, but she says one voice has been missing.
“Our goal is to be like advocates again for the business community and kind of the average citizen of Billings, Montana,” Corning said.
“This impacts us as citizens,” Brewer said. “This project has been deferred for too long now, and it's time that we really address it and find the solution. It's not only going to take care of the problem currently, but get us 25 years down the road.”
