Jennifer Ragsdale on public safety funding
From Star City Council Candidate Jennifer Ragsdale · · The Ranch Podcast
“I would hope that public safety is important enough to people that they would support increasing taxes to fund police and fire services. These services are the cornerstone of any community, and we need to support them to keep our neighborhoods safe.”
On , Jennifer Ragsdale, Senior Vice President & Chief Administrative Officer at UNITI GROUP INC, spoke about public safety funding during Star City Council Candidate Jennifer Ragsdale on The Ranch Podcast.
About Jennifer Ragsdale
Jennifer Ragsdale, Senior Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer at United Fire, is running for Star City Council. In a September 2025 podcast interview, she stated that she moved to Star from Montana in 2020 and described the city's population as having doubled to over 20,000 since roughly 2020. She said she is running because she believes the city needs "responsible growth" and leaders who can make "thoughtful decisions" to ensure development does not overwhelm infrastructure or change the character of neighborhoods. Ragsdale argued that growth should follow infrastructure, not the other way around, and that priorities should be roads, schools, and utilities before approving new developments. She noted that Star's tax structure restricts budget growth to about 3% to 8% per year, which she said does not keep up with population growth, but added that property taxes have gone down since 2020 because growth spread the tax burden across more homes. Ragsdale said public safety is a "foundation for a thriving community" and expressed support for law enforcement, stating she would like to see more deputies and a greater police presence. She said she hopes residents would support increasing taxes to fund police and fire services, and that it would be appropriate to consider another levy to fund fire services. She also expressed a desire to avoid the kind of rapid growth she said she observed in Bozeman, Montana, where she said longtime residents were priced out. Ragsdale suggested Star should consider ordinances similar to Middleton's that restrict new development if schools are at or over capacity. She described Star as a unique community where duck hunting is allowed within city limits and said new residents should respect that culture.