Milford holds 2019 budget hearing
MILFORD — Unlike recent years, the hearing of Milford’s 2019 budget, held before the monthly public meeting of the town council Monday, Sept. 10, was a well-attended affair in which Town Clerk/Treasurer Joellen Free fielded a number of questions from residents about how their tax dollars are allocated.
The 2019 budget estimate is $1,855,188. The town is seeking to raise $608,343, $19,022 more than 2018’s tax levy of $589,221; however, Council President Doug Ruch reminded attendees the numbers are based on projections dependent on assessed property valuations, which fluctuate.
According to Free, Milford has $4.1 million in the bank, a $1.5 million increase since the current council was voted in seven years ago. She characterized the town’s finances as “strong and stable.”
Much of the savings is set aside for emergencies, such as a tornado, for example, which is not completely covered by insurance. Ruch referred to these savings as “safeguards we as a town have to keep.”
The thorn in the town’s side, however, has been utilities, which are still not self-sustaining and have been in the red for nearly seven years. One resident wondered why the town did not use money from its county economic development income tax fund to bring utilities into the black, rather than continuing to raise rates.
According to Free, the town “promised bond holders” it would keep rates at a high enough level to pay back the loan when it was issued in 2008. Previous councils had used CEDIT funds in this way, but Free was informed by the State Board of Accounts it should not be done.
Indeed, later in the meeting, attendees saw an example of CEDIT fund usage when the council voted to pass a motion updating water lines on East Street nearly a century old at a cost of $38,310.
Resident Jay Urbin objected to Free’s characterization of the town’s subsidized trash pick-up as “free” because it comes from property taxes. Milford’s contract with Sweetheimer’s for trash removal works out to roughly $9 per month per household.