Millbrook’s $38.4 million operating budget for the coming year passed on a 6–1 vote Monday, holding the residential tax rate at $14.10 per thousand for a third straight year while adding two full-time paramedics to the fire district.
The budget is up 2.9 percent over last year. Most of that increase is contractual: negotiated raises for town employees, a 7 percent jump in the health insurance line, and debt service on the Water Street culvert replacement that began in 2024.
Where the new money went
- Two full-time paramedics, bringing the district to round-the-clock two-medic coverage — $196,000
- A part-time grant writer shared with the school district — $41,000
- Sidewalk repair, roughly doubled from last year — $180,000
- A second winter salt shed at the Route 9 yard — $310,000 from capital reserve
Fire Chief Dana Pike told the council in June that Millbrook had gone to a single-medic overnight shift 41 times last year, and that mutual aid from Ashford took an average of 19 minutes to arrive. “That is the number I lose sleep over,” Pike said.
Council member Tom Halloran cast the lone no vote, saying the town should have used the year’s surplus to pay down the culvert debt rather than expand staffing. “Every position we add is permanent,” he said. “Every surplus is not.”
What a flat rate actually means
Holding the rate flat is not the same as holding bills flat. Millbrook’s assessed residential value rose 4.1 percent this year, so the median single-family bill goes up about $147 even though the rate itself does not move. The assessor’s office will mail new valuations in October.
The budget takes effect December 1. A line-by-line copy is available at the town clerk’s office and on the town website.