Public Safety Spending In Milford May Increase By Nearly $3 Million

MILFORD, CT – In the 2023-24 proposed city budget, public safety accounts for nearly $30 million, an increase of $2.9 million for the 2022-23 budget.

Milford Police Department initially requested $15.8 million, the Mayor recommended $15.3 million, and the finance board dropped it to $15.2 million.

“The increases are primarily a result of the contractual working agreement that was settled as three years of contractual wage increases,” Keith Mello, Chief of Police, said.

Milford Fire Department requested $14 million, and the mayor and finance department recommended $13.3 million.

“90 percent of our budget is contractual, 90 percent is wages,” Fire Chief Doug Edo said.

The Milford Police Department and the Milford Fire Department presented before the Board of Aldermen on Wednesday, April 19, regarding the funding they requested for the 2023-24 budget.

The Board of Aldermen will vote on the budget in May.

Mello said some accounts are underfunded, such as overtime, holiday pay, and shift differential.

“Once again this year, the patrol cars are not in here, the mayor has funded them with the vehicle acquisition account, and that has worked out well for us,” said Mello. “There are no new programs in this budget except for one more police officer.”

Mello said 40 years ago, Milford had 111 police officers, and their calls have increased by 62 percent.

“Today we have 116 police officers, five of those police officers are dedicated to the schools,” he said. “So we are dealing with 111 officers, the same number as 40 when Milford was different.”

Mello explained from the day an officer gets hired; it’s 11 months of training before they can take their first call.

“In May, we will have eight openings. In July, we will have 10,” he said. “In the meantime, we hire officers back to fill those vacancies using overtime. So we still have to fill those slots.”

When Edo and his team put together their proposed budget, he said it was well throughout and resulted in around a 7.4 percent increase from the 2022-23 budget.

“We got to cut down to a three percent increase,” he said. “Three percent seemed to be the same number every year. It is not going to work. I’m running out of money; we are in the negative, equipment breaking.”

Edo said the Fire Department does take a percentage from the revenue of the Emergency Service account gets.

“What we collect from the account is 25 percent. I’d like to see that increased as well,” He said. “If you can put some money back into our budget, it would be helpful.”

Fire Commission Chairman Kevin McGrath said an additional $250,000 added to the fire department budget would help the department.

“Everybody wants the best for the city,” he said. “But I will quote the chief that has sat in this room and said to you and your predecessors. I’ll make it work, and ladies and gentlemen, they have made it work.”