Milford Implements Spending Freeze

MILFORD, CT — In case you haven't heard, Gov. Malloy's proposal to balance the state's more than $1 billion deficit includes shifting money from suburban communities to bigger cities and as of now Milford stands to lose $11 million in state aid.

However, it's still very unlikely the General Assembly will approve all of Malloy's proposal but looming uncertainty on how much state aid Milford will receive has led Mayor Benjamin G. Blake to implement a spending and hiring freeze on non-essential items and staff.

News that the spending and hiring freeze was enacted by Blake comes via the recent Board of Health meeting minutes where officials discussed the impact of the freeze. Health Director Deepa Joseph said March was a busy month as officials addressed an outbreak investigation and a white powder incident while dealing with staffing vacancies.

She said the department is managing as well as possible and noted the spending freeze, which is in effect until June 30, 2017, meeting minutes state. Blake implemented the spending freeze because of looming issues at the state level, health department meeting minutes state.

"We may need to create a contingency budget that is less than the current requested budget," the health department meeting minutes state in explaining why the freeze was enacted.

Specifically, the public health nurse position has not been filled because of the freeze, which means substitute nurses are being used at the schools, meeting minutes state.

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