Milton presents FY2026 budget recommendation prioritizing public safety, infrastructure and reserves

City Manager Ed Spears and budget staff presented a proposed fiscal 2026 budget for the City of Milton that emphasizes public safety, infrastructure maintenance and preserving reserves while adjusting how the city recovers administrative costs from its utility funds.

Spears said the recommendation reflects the city’s “values clearly demonstrated, public safety, infrastructure, quality of life,” and aims to “create a reality budget” based on three-year average actual spending rather than last year’s appropriations. Laura MacDill, the city’s budget director, told council the proposed overall increase in the general fund is 4.65% over FY2025 and that the budget currently assumes using $1.4 million in reserves to balance the plan.

The nut of the proposal is a package of pay and staffing changes combined with capital investments and a new indirect cost allocation plan. The plan sets self-imposed limits on how much may be transferred from enterprise operations to the general fund; staff said that would shrink transfers from about $5.8 million in FY2025 to $4.0 million in the proposed FY2026 budget (a 32% reduction). The city’s general fund reserve is described in the presentation as about 9.3 months of operating capital.

Public safety: The proposed budget includes an 8.25% pay increase for firefighters after bargaining with the union, a measure Spears said is intended to keep the department competitive with…