In what were to be the final two workshops designed to review the budget, Police Chief Cecilia Ashe called into question data included in a recent salary study regarding some of her staff. At a recent Public Safety Committee meeting, Ashe presented information supporting additional officers and an increase in salary for others.
“I made a request for six officers, one, fully understanding that I was not going to get, nor was I asking for all six in year one, that would be a miracle but showing full transparency of when I did a staffing study, what was the whole need,” Ashe said. “Mark and Lou were able to add three additional positions with the understanding that those positions would be added somewhere around September and November, with an academy start date of December.”
Ashe felt that was important even though Milford Police Department was fully staffed at the present time and there were already 80 applications on file.
“We have some of the highest recruiting numbers in the state,” Ashe said. “When I look at the O&M budget, were up only seven percent, probably one of the lowest compared to other departments. We drill down on that budget every day and I’ll say we’ll take a president off a dollar bill if we can. Now that we have the take home car program, you’re going to see the benefits of that.”
The additional officer costs would reflect more fully in the 2026-27 budget and vehicle replacements were included in the Capital Improvement Plan (CIP), which is not a budget, but a guideline for staff to use for capital projects in the city. Councilman Jason James asked if a request for a change in grade for non-union sworn officers was included.
“I’ve requested that our lieutenants be bumped up grade levels as they should make more than their subordinates who will get a seven percent increase based on the union contract,” Ashes said. “We are bringing our police department to national level standards, which required me to rewrite job descriptions back in March. To stay consistent with national standards, we need to move our captains and lieutenants up one pay grade to avoid them maxing out. The end goal is that we cannot have sergeants making more than lieutenants.”
Ashe stated that she had surveyed local agencies in the area, explaining that she “didn’t care” about Berlin, Maryland, as they are an 11-person department. She had attempted to contact Evergreen, the company that conducted the most recent pay study, to get data on what they used, but had not responded. James asked if it was still policy to maintain at least a $10,000 spread between pay grades and Ashe said that was what she attempted to do.
“Last meeting, I asked no less than three times two questions in reference to the salaries,” Councilwoman Lori Connor said. “I asked if the raises in the budget were from the study and the answer was yes, we believe so. The second question asked if it included the three officers or all of the officers she asked for, and I was told three. Another question was when we would see the report with the raw data and we were told that you thought we already had it. Midweek, when I still had not seen it, I reached out and asked again.”
Connor explained that Ashe had reservations about using Evergreen initially, leading her to do her own analysis. When she did receive the information, the amounts were not the recommendations presented by Ashe. There was also no explanation for why her recommendations were not included. Councilman Michael Stewart questioned why Ashe’s recommendations were not included and asked who authorized it be removed. City Manager Mark Whitfield confirmed it was his decision.
“You just said a while ago in the previous statement that, just like the chief, the department heads have suggestions,” Stewart said. “Well, they are two very different people. She is your equal, they are not. They answer to you. I don’t understand why when she is your equal and she says ‘this is what I need,’ you remove that without talking to her.”
Whitfield responded that the city manager has the fiduciary responsibility to the city.
“I emphasize to council that policing is a very different beast,” Ashe said. You cannot compare a police lieutenant to somebody in Parks and Recreation, not under this new administration, maybe under the next administration it will change, but under this one and my watch, that is the reason why these job descriptions have drastically changed, because we have to hold our police accountable, we have to be transparent in what we are doing and that is the expectation from the top down.”
Ashe pointed out that in other jurisdictions, lieutenants and captains earned overtime, but that was not the case in her department. This meant that a sergeant making overtime could earn considerably more than their superiors.
“I understand Mark’s position, but my job is to fight for my people, Councilman Stewart, that is my role and Mark has his role, and what distinguishes me from another department head because I come every week and I’m going to fight the fight for my people, because they fight every single day for this community.”
Ashe pointed out that Whitfield had his own requirements to achieve his goals.
“He needs Parks and Recs, he needs every department, so they’re also fighting for what they want, whether that is full time positions or what have you,” Ashe said. “When council makes these agreements, there has to be an understanding that these lieutenants and captains are going to get pay increases. I understand Mark’s role and he does a very good job and he would probably take two president’s off a dollar bill.”
James thanked Ashe for her comments and commended her for understanding the two positions and for not coming in as an adversary to other departments.
“You know, Mark has all these department heads, requesting money for various things and, with all due respect to every department head there, whether it is public works or finance, with all due respect ot everyone, it is not the same as police,” Councilwoman Madula Kalesis said. “The police chief has to deal with people’s lives, the officer’s lives and that is a hell of a lot more important. They put their lives at stake every single day to make sure that we are safe. So putting all the department heads in the same position as the police, looking at pay rates, I do not think our police are on the same level as our other department heads.”
Ashe respectfully disagreed with Kalesis.
“I would be remiss and my father-in-law, a former lineman, would probably kill me if I did not speak up,” Ashe said. “This is not a competition between departments. This is not about me. It is not about my paygrade. This is about lieutenants and captains, but my father-in-law would probably kill me if I didn’t say that he risked his life every day climbing a power pole. We see every day the tragedies that happen in law enforcement but that doesn’t take away from linemen. That doesn’t take away from the risk of public works when they’re out in the street and, God forbid, a car or something strikes them.”
At the third budget hearing, Whitfield provided additional information from Evergreen, including an agreement, signed on June 3, that would not allow the city to release the raw data in the report to the public. Council was permitted to see the data, but because the information was sensitive and could be used without compensation to Evergreen, the company requested the document, which included a hold-harmless clause, not be released to the public. Three options were offered in a memo from Whitfield.
“The first option is to maintain wages, grades and steps as proposed by the City Manager and the pay study, the second is to upgrade steps for several positions which will require a $21,839 increase to the budget and a $0.0020 tax increase on top of the $.01 increase, although some changes to the budget over the last week may allow us to fund the increase without a tax increase,” the memo read. “Option 3 would be to increase the salaries as requested by Chief Ashe which would require adding $123,71 and a commensurate increase for the chief to increase her salary to at least $10,000 more than the captain’s salary.”
The last option could result in a $0.0113 tax increase, or the city could revert back to an 80/20 split for employee health insurance instead of the proposed 85/15. Whitfield explained that the second and third option were not supported by the pay study consultant and that it could open the door for all non-union employees, leading to legal challenges. James asked if there was a chance the officers would reach the top step level and Whitfield explained that no matter which option was chosen, another pay study would be done before the officers ran out of steps.
“It is important for people to understand a police structure and how these comprehensive studies and reports are done,” Ashe said. “I just started my third year. It has taken me three years to train these captains and lieutenants in the strategies we are putting in place. The last thing I want to see is for them to cap out and leave to go to a different organization.”
Ashe admitted that lieutenants received a 27 percent pay increase last year and this year would receive a 14 percent pay increase without the other options.
“I have reservations that this study is accurate and fair. It definitely makes me feel like we definitely should be starting from scratch,” Connor said. “It’s embarrassing and unfortunate, because this memo isn’t the directive of council. Now, it looks like we are separating our police department from our other employees and that’s not our intent. Today, without an accounting degree, I found multiple solutions to this scenario that did not involve raising taxes or covering the costs on the backs of our employees.”
James pointed out again that if salaries are raised, the gap between positions had to remain close to $10,000 which meant significant changes to the budget.
“I feel like this memo was meant to bully us by saying we would have to raise taxes,” Kalesis said. “I looked over the budget, every single line and I know Lori didn’t say it, but we did a pay study back in 2017, we did another in 2021, and it is supposed to be done every four years at a cost of $59,000 for 2026. We supposedly have $150,000 for the front of City Hall, so we need $120,000? I’ll get out there and plant flowers so the police can get the funding.”
Whitfield explained that the study in the budget was a staffing study, not a salary study. Kalesis then pointed out that the city didn’t need to spend money on festivals. Mayor Todd Culotta stated that meant looking at all the organizations the city funded, including DMI and others. He felt the festivals were necessary.
“I’m not saying they aren’t necessary; I’m not asking to cut funding to DMI or whatever, but we need to make it work for the city,” Kalesis said. “Council expenses are $4,000; do we really need catering at meetings? And we can bring our significant others to dinners, so cut that out and that cost is cut in half.”
Whitfield explained that some of what Kalesis was suggesting eliminating were capital projects and the funding used real estate transfer fund (RTT).
“We just went through a five-year process where we increased taxes by a penny and reduced dependency on RTT to get where we are at,” Whitfield said. “If you use that money to balance the budget this year, what will you do next year because you will undo everything we have done over the last five years.”
James agreed with Whitfield, stating that using RTT funding that was earmarked for capital projects was not the answer. Kalesis reminded James that when he voted yes for the park, the $3 million would not raise taxes, but now he seemed to be saying something else.
“Oh no, that is not what I said. I just want to be careful that the public knows that you are not addressing me with that recommendation,” James said.
Kalesis pushed back.
“I’m just repeating what you said that we’re not okay,” Kalesis said. “Jason said that, now Jason did not say that. You know, Mr. Whitfield recommended we’re supposed to raise taxes for $120,000 to pay our police officers. That’s the best recommendation we have.”
Whitfield reiterated that if the increases were approved this year, they would need to be approved next year and using RTT, or other one-time sources of income could lead to financial difficulty in future budgets. He reminded council they just spent five years reducing reliance on this type of funding and now there were suggestions to move back to that method of balancing the budget.
“I want to see the raw data in that report,” Connor said. “I want to see the past three years of employee job titles, I don’t want their names. I want to physically see what we are talking about. I feel like the police are being singled out.”
Kalesis didn’t see what the issue was as if employees were going to get raises every year, they had to come from somewhere, so cutting some of the capital expenditures would allow that.
“I think there is a conflation between operating budget and capital budget,” Councilwoman Nadia Zychal said. “They are different pools of money. They are still taxpayer dollars, but some are ongoing expenses, like raises, while others are a one-time expense.”
James suggested that council could find funding within the budget for the additional salaries without using RTT and other one-time funding.
“We need our police to be the best that they can be, we give them the tools and support,” Councilwoman Katrina Wilson said. “Before being on council, I supported the police and I just wanted to say, I hear you talk about that $10,000 gap so I appreciate that explanation.”
Culotta stated that the city worked like any business where they had income and expenses that had to be balanced in the budget. Council could ask department heads to cut three percent of their budget and if they didn’t, it fell to council to do it for them.
“My father-in-law was a police officer in the city of Milford so maybe I am biased,” James said. “I cannot remember once where we have not granted an ask from the police department, but we have done so in a responsible way. I want the public to understand that, because the noise that goes out there could be misconstrued and council would be considered anti-police. That has never been true.”
Culotta stated that his three main focuses when he became mayor were getting government out of the way to allow economic development to happen, the second was public safety and the third was transparency.
“Anybody can look at this and say, “we have to raise taxes because it’s police,” but that is not necessarily so,” Culotta said. “We also have other priorities, too and we have to decide what our priorities are.”
Ashe asked for direction from council as she had made her recommendations clear in March, pointing out that there could be legal challenges from the lieutenants and captains as the information provided by Evergreen may not be accurate.
“I don’t think this budget is ready for adoption on Monday,” Connor said.
Whitfield pointed out that the budget had to be approved by council by June 30 per the city charter. Connor asked if more information could be provided by Monday, June 9. Lou Vitola, Finance Director, asked what additional information she needed.
“How you are going to fund this $120,000,” Connor stated. “I think you need to figure out how we fund this or if we have to move back from this, but a real resolution that does not involve raising insurance costs or taxes. So, we look at worst case scenario and move back from there, and maybe figure out a way to meet in the middle.”
Stewart reminded council that the average income for Milford residents was only $55,000.
“I agree with Councilwoman Lori, the budget’s not ready,” Councilman Danny Perez said. “The thing about budgets is once you set it in stone, it keeps going up. I have no quarrels protecting our police department, I 100 percent support the police. My only concern is, as someone in accounting, I’ve seen budgets that once something is set in stone, it keeps going higher and then we could have to go back to the taxpayer to balance it later. I think we need to look at it one more time. I congratulate the finance department for putting this all together, it is not an easy task.”
Perez also pointed out that additional revenue was created with growth as more people moved into the area, the more funding the city received.
“I would like to address what you just said,” Whitfield said. “We were able to fund three more police officers, one of the reasons why we were able to fund three positions that it got caught last year, that we were able to put in, is because of that growth. So, to your point, Mr. Perez, the city’s growing and we need to grow services. We are growing services, and we have the money there to be able to do that, because we are growing rapidly right now.”
Council made the decision to delay voting on the budget until they could hold another workshop with more details on how they could increase the salaries of the officers without raising taxes.
