I want to thank everyone who joined us at one of our Fire Station Open Houses this past week. Families and residents from all over Meridian stopped by to visit with our Meridian Fire and Police Chiefs, City leaders, and staff to talk about how our public safety teams make Meridian one of the safest cities in Idaho and such a wonderful place to live.
It was great to see families with small children exploring a fire truck for the first time and listen to high school and college students speak with our Fire and Police Chiefs about starting a career in public safety. Most of all, these open houses gave residents a chance to visit with City leaders and ask thoughtful questions about the proposed public safety levy.
If you haven’t heard about the Public Safety Levy yet, you can go to the Public Safety Levy webpage to view all the information about the proposal including some frequently asked questions. As a reminder, the levy is for the following purposes:
- Retain 13 firefighter positions following the exhaustion of SAFER grant funds.
- Increase police officer wages to recruit and retain officers
- Fund a prosecution team to prosecute crimes.
If the levy is passed, the City will collect $5,018,1125.17 from the levy, beyond any amount otherwise allowed by law, beginning with the fiscal year commencing on October 1, 2026, and continuing each fiscal year thereafter. The estimated average annual cost to the taxpayer will be a tax of $20.11 per $100,000 of taxable assessed value, per year, based on current conditions.
Some of you may only have the levy issue on the ballot for November 4, 2025. The Ada County’s Election website offers their “View My Ballot” tool, which allows you to view a personalized sample ballot with all the races and measures specific to you. I encourage you to use this tool to know before you go and get educated on the people and issues you will be asked to vote on. Additionally, Ada County Elections has helpful information on registering to vote, seeing where your polling location is and more.
As you prepare to vote, here are the important deadlines to keep in mind this year:
- Early Voting Begins: October 20, 2025, at Meridian City Hall – Learn more about early voting or find alternate early voting locations at Ada County Clerk’s Elections webpage.
- Absentee Ballot Request Deadline: October 24, 2025, by 5:00 p.m.
- Election Day: Tuesday, November 4, 2025 — polls will be open from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.
Your participation at the ballot box every election determines the future of the community we all call home. I encourage you to be part of the process and vote in the November 4, 2025 election.
About the author
Mayor Simison