Milford Town Meeting Passes $111M 2021 Budget

MILFORD, MA — A truncated Milford spring Town Meeting was held Monday night at the high school, and the meeting members were able to pass the biggest item on the warrant — the town's $111.2 million fiscal 2021 budget.

The hottest item of the night was the school budget. Milford Schools cut $300,000 from the budget earlier this year after the coronavirus crisis made clear that local and state revenues would take a hit.

The Finance Committee came back and asked for an additional $200,000 cut in June. School Committee Chair John Erickson said that the additional cut would result in job losses, including at least three teachers. Town Meeting ultimately voted to put the $200,000 back in the school department's budget.

Other articles passed by Town Meeting included a new collective bargaining agreement for library employees, and demolishing a building at 72 Depot St. Items that did not pass included a new pedestrian crossing over Route 85 near the Walden Woods development, buying a new defibrillator for the police department, and petitioning the Legislature to change Board of Selectmen to "Select Board."

The meeting had been moved back due to coronavirus, and was being allowed to proceed with a lower quorum of just 62 members — however, 157 members were in attendence.