Selectmen discuss $542,748 budget delta and ask for clearer voter-impact numbers

Town staff briefed the Milford Board of Selectmen on the 2026 municipal budget and the town’s effort to reduce the difference between the proposed and default budgets.

Town staff reported they were able to lower the budget delta from approximately $675,243 to about $542,748, which staff described as about a 2.56% increase over the default budget. Selectmen asked staff to provide a detailed line-by-line breakdown of the drivers behind the gap — including nonunion cost-of-living adjustments, software and library operating changes, paving and debt-service items — because several of the listed "budget drivers" appear already to be embedded in the default budget.

Board members also debated how to present tax impact in the warrant materials. Some said voters prefer per-$100,000 figures while others favored per-$1,000; several members requested the warrant include both a simple per-unit tax-impact statement and a clearer differential between the proposed and default budgets so voters can see the choices before them.

Town staff agreed to provide the detailed breakdown and to revise warrant and voter-guide language before the public hearings and deliberative session.