Mayor Smith Imposes Citywide Spending and Hiring Freeze Through June 30

Mayor Rich Smith has implemented a spending and hiring freeze across all Milford city departments effective April 1, citing $9.4 million in new contractual obligations, rising healthcare costs, an unusually difficult winter, and broader economic pressures.

The freeze, which runs through the end of the current fiscal year on June 30, was announced in a city release and described in greater detail by Smith in an interview with WTNH on Wednesday.

"There are a lot of factors that it seemed obvious to me that we need to say, 'Okay, stop. No more spending, no more hiring until we can assess where we are at the end of the year,'" Smith told the station.

In his official release, the mayor framed the move as a response to multiple converging pressures: "As we enter the last quarter of fiscal year 25/26, we face pressing budget challenges, some resulting from new labor contracts the city entered last year as well as increasing health care costs, rising operational costs, an unusually difficult winter as well as other current economic conditions. This hiring and spending freeze will serve to steady the financial landscape as we work within the final quarter of FY 25/26 budget."

What the Freeze Covers

The mayor's directive imposes six specific controls on city departments:

• A freeze on all new hires, including seasonal and temporary positions. Vacant positions cannot be filled for the remainder of the fiscal year without the mayor's approval.
• No transfers out of wage accounts.
• No transfers out of utility and fuel accounts.
• A spending freeze on all non-essential operational and capital expenditures.
• Out-of-state travel is frozen, with exceptions only for travel previously approved.
• Overtime is restricted to emergencies and extenuating circumstances, and must be controlled directly by department heads.

Smith confirmed to WTNH that public safety departments will be granted exceptions to the freeze.

A Difficult Winter Drove Snow Costs Far Above Budget

The "unusually difficult winter" Smith referenced has had a measurable impact on department spending. At Monday night's Board of Aldermen budget hearing, Public Works Director Chris Saley told the board that snow removal spending this fiscal year approached $400,000 against a budget of just $30,000.

"This was the biggest budget for snow removal since I've been here," Saley said. "It was the most challenging winter I've been here, but I've been told it's the most challenging winter in the last 25 years. I believe we had 62 inches of snow."

That roughly $370,000 overrun is one of the spending pressures the freeze is intended to absorb in the final quarter.

The $9.4 Million Question

The most significant figure Smith disclosed publicly is the $9.4 million in new contractual obligations he said the city is locked into paying — costs that flow primarily from labor contracts settled in the prior fiscal year.

The mayor has not yet publicly broken down where those obligations sit across city departments, though signals have emerged in budget hearings. Finance Director Peter Erodici told the Board of Aldermen on Monday that a recently negotiated agreement with the Milford Employee Association includes annual cost-of-living increases. The Milford Supervisors Association contract is up for renegotiation in the near future.

A Request to Other Agencies

Smith also asked the Board of Education and city grant agencies to adopt the same or similar budgetary controls, though the mayor's office cannot mandate compliance from those bodies.

"I understand these fiscal constraints may present challenges, but I'd like to thank the department heads and all city personnel for their flexibility and support of this initiative as we look to a smooth landing to close out FY 25/26 and on to FY 26/27," Smith said in his release.

Context for the Coming Budget

The freeze comes as the Board of Aldermen continues its deliberations on the FY 26/27 budget. Department-by-department presentations have been ongoing through April, with the board in recess until a tentatively scheduled May 7 meeting that depends on the timing of the state's budget passage.

The freeze's effects have already shown up in those hearings. Library Director Scott Brill told the board last week that a March memo from the city had explicitly prohibited transfers within wage accounts for the current fiscal year — a constraint that affected how he could manage part-time staffing costs against the rising state minimum wage. Saley told the board Monday that he expects to fill at least seven Public Works vacancies "the week of July 6th," signaling that hiring activity is being held until the new fiscal year begins on July 1.

Bryan Anderson, a Milford resident interviewed by WTNH, said he believes residents were not fully informed during the last budget cycle about the impact of the recent property revaluation, but said he understood the rationale behind the freeze.

"The mayor has been working diligently to bring in additional revenue, to use monies that are in reserve," Anderson told the station.

Property reassessment notices have already been mailed to homeowners. Smith has said he intends to phase in the impact of the reassessment over five years to soften the financial blow on residents.