Milford Select Board warns of hiring freeze as state aid falls nearly flat

Select Board · Meeting of January 29, 2026

Milford Select Board approves nine unanimous votes while Finance Director warns of the town's most difficult budget year. Finance Director Zach Taylor told the board January 29 that the governor's proposed Chapter 70 education aid increase of just 0.6 percent — yielding a net gain of only $150,000 after a $200,000 rise in state assessments — falls far short of the 3.5 percent the town built into its FY27 models, leaving Milford staring at close to a $2 million structural gap. Taylor recommended a town-wide hiring freeze and level funding across departments, warning that the town's roughly $43.5 million in stabilization reserves are earmarked for a planned school building project and cannot serve as a routine budget buffer.

"This might be the toughest budget year we've ever had," Taylor said. The board also authorized deficit spending for the $600,000 snow and ice account, approved a new utility pole for National Grid on Depot Street, transferred a restaurant license at 179-181 Main Street to Classic Crust Milford LLC, granted a Class II auto dealer license to K&M Auto Sales at 40 Cape Road, and accepted two $3,000 gifts from Benjamin Moore and Company — one to the Fire Department, one to the Youth Center.

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Source: the Select Board meeting of January 29, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.