Milford police budget grows as aldermen press on red‑light camera revenue use

Milford Police Chief Keith Mello told the Board of Aldermen on April 20 that the department’s proposed budget includes an approximately $1,400,000 increase driven largely by personnel costs and predictable overtime overages.

The chief said the department deliberately keeps some line items — overtime, training and holiday pay — underfunded because transfers from regular wage accounts (created by vacancies or retirements) have historically covered those overages. "Every year in every budget I've ever done, by design, that account has been underfunded," Mello said, explaining the practice and noting 12 cadets are slated to graduate May 20 and nine sworn positions remain open.

Why it matters: The staffing shortfall and underfunded overtime affect when recruits can be placed on patrol and whether the department will need to rely on higher‑cost overtime to maintain minimum field staffing.

Aldermen pressed Mello on several budget lines. He said the department requested $967,000 for overtime (mayoral recommendation: $900,000) and $772,005.34 for holiday pay (mayoral: $700,000) and explained those figures were calculated from last year’s spending plus a wage increase. "We know we'll use about $1,300,000," Mello said, describing how transfers from regular wages are used when openings arise.

The board also questioned a $290,000 cruiser request that the chief said would have purchased five vehicles (he had wanted six), noting add‑on outfitting costs of $15,000–$22,000 per cruiser come from separate vehicle accounts.

Red‑light cameras and revenue use

A significant line of questioning centered on the city’s recently approved red‑light and speed camera program and what the resulting revenue may be used for. Mello said the program has two phases: city roads (local permitting) and state roads (subject to DOT approval), with a warning period before fines are issued. He estimated implementation could start this summer for city roads and that revenue models project roughly $3 to $4 million annually if the cameras operate as modeled.

Finance Director Peter told the board the city has not budgeted those revenues for FY27 and that when collected the funds will flow into the general fund and be available for appropriation by the board. "It would help to contribute to the surplus in the general fund," he said, adding that the board could later appropriate any balance.

Several aldermen, including Alderman Winthrop Smith Jr., objected to using camera receipts as general revenue. Smith called it "taxation by citation" and urged caution. Mello and council members repeatedly noted statutory limits: the chief said revenues must first fund the program and related highway‑safety improvements under state statute and that finance and the city attorney would need to interpret permissibility for other uses.

What’s next: Finance staff and the city attorney will provide guidance on permissible uses if/when the revenue materializes; no changes to the FY27 budget were made at the hearing.

Quotes: "That program's revenue neutral, so there's no funding in here for that," Mello said of the initial implementation. "It has to be used for highway safety improvements or to fund safer streets," he added on statutory constraints. Alderman Smith Jr. said, "That's taxation by citation and I thought it was a bad policy," framing the policy debate for the board.

Ending: The board did not adopt a new appropriation for camera revenue; finance indicated any future spending of revenue would require the board's explicit appropriation.