Rich Smith Announces Candidacy For Milford Mayor, Promises Lower Taxes

MILFORD, CT — Former mayor Rich Smith announced his candidacy for mayor in front of the Milford Tax Office. He "announced his candidacy to return to City Hall by highlighting Mayor Tony Giannattasio’s year-after-year tax increases," according to a statement.

“It is with purpose and community pride that I announce my candidacy to again serve as Milford’s mayor,” Smith told an assembled crowd of supporters, family members, and friends. “I will deliver lower taxes and a stronger Milford so that our community thrives once more.”

Smith, a Democrat, was appointed mayor after Benjamin Blake left to take a job with the state in May 2023.

Smith said he launched his candidacy at the Milford Tax Office to emphasize the failure of the current mayor to do the hard work of responsible budgeting. Smith claimed that the city’s economy had "previously thrived under a decade of Democratic-led balanced budgets, tax cuts, and economic growth."

He said that the mayor's latest proposed budget "includes another crippling 4% tax increase on top of last year’s eye-popping 7.25% increase."

However, Giannattasio said Smith "and his team of political consultants are using fear and misinformation to garner support for their political agendas."

In the last fiscal year, Giannattasio said the city side of the budget decreased by approximately $363,000, and when combined with the Board of Education budget, the total increase was 1.03%.

In the mayor's proposed budget, "there are a number of cost drivers that were unavoidable – contractual wage increases, utility costs, global inflation, a significant increase for IT services, and increased costs for waste disposal."

The proposed budget increase, when combined with the Board of Education budget, will be 3.78% with a total of 4.81% over two years, according to Giannattasio. He added that in working with department heads, he's "been able to identify nearly $1 million in reductions from departmental requests."

"As Mayor, I work tirelessly to ensure that our bills are paid, the lights stay on, and that we are appropriately funding our departments, including police, fire, and public health," he said.

Smith said that the mayor's job requires "an engaged leader who works with department heads and the Board of Education to create responsible budgets."

Smith's campaign website can be found by clicking here.