Milford staff told the council during the FY26 budget workshop that most operating personnel lines will remain flat while several funds face higher operation-and-maintenance costs driven by contracts, wholesale power forecasts and equipment replacements.

Public Works: Staff said there are no personnel increases planned for public works but noted higher O&M costs for GIS/CAD software licenses and several service contracts (cleaning, alarm systems, security cameras). Finance director Lou Vitola cautioned that while costs will continue to rise "they will not be at that pace or that rate," and explained part of the apparent increase reflects budgeting versus the year's projection.

Electric: The electric fund shows the largest single O&M driver: a roughly $3,000,000 increase tied to forecasted wholesale power and cost-of-service changes provided by the regional supplier (DMACC). The electric presenter said an administrative reclassification (from the arborist position) will add headcount but have limited fiscal impact; wholesale price variability driven by PJM/FERC activity remains an uncertain factor.

Water and Wastewater: Staff proposed reestablishing a water and sewer supervisor role (to replace a vacant operations supervisor). O&M increases reflect contractual work and supplies required for water treatment. Staff said some prior-year "savings" reflect a lower-than-expected number of emergency repairs and that the city budgets conservatively for a worse-than-average year.

Solid waste: The department is seeking to hire a refuse driver effective Oct. 1 to address workload identified in a recent study.

Equipment replacement and fleet: Council heard a long discussion about vehicle and equipment replacement priorities and the city's equipment reserve process. Staff said they use a mix of mileage and engine hours to judge replacement timing: police pursuit vehicles are considered for replacement at about 100,000 miles and bucket trucks and specialty equipment are evaluated by hours and safety testing.

Examples discussed in council: a police vehicle needing a transmission replacement (estimated ~$10,000), a dump truck with a transmission issue (~$15,000) and a bucket truck with a two-year-plus lead time and prior dielectric testing failures. Council members and staff praised the vehicle reserve process as making replacements more predictable'and safer for crews.

Capital Improvement Plan (CIP): The manager and staff described changes that defer or rebucket more than $5 million of public-works and general-fund projects into fiscal 2027 to preserve reserve policy balances. The finance director said utility funds (except solid waste) are generally in stronger positions to fund capital. Specific notes: Masten Pond must be funded in FY26 (engineering and approvals required); a pond and basketball-court drainage project may be rebucketed to FY27 depending on permitting and schedule; sidewalk replacement funding was reduced in the FY26 draft because of prior-year carryover funds that staff expect will cover FY26 needs.

Council asked departments to provide more detailed operating statistics and vehicle-hours/mileage for the larger items on the replacement list; staff said they will supply those figures before final budget adoption. No ordinances or purchase authorizations were approved at the workshop.

Ending: Staff will upload updated budget tables and vehicle statistics; the council scheduled a follow-up workshop (June 16) to review updated CIP and equipment-replacement details and to finalize the FY26 budget.