Milton Finance Committee previews override scenarios ranging from $9.5 million to $14.5 million

MILTON — April 13, 2026 — Milton Finance Committee rehearses multi-year budget forecast warning of overrides in the $9.5 million to $14.5 million range. Chair Jay Fundling walked members through a draft presentation bound for Town Meeting that projects annual deficits of $2.5 million in fiscal 2028, $4.5 million in fiscal 2029, and $6.4 million in fiscal 2030, driven by school and town expenses growing at roughly 5 percent against a tax-levy cap of around 3 percent. The town's operating budget stabilization fund — holding approximately $3 million from last year's override plus two free-cash deposits — would be exhausted before any of those overrides takes effect without a formal drawdown policy. Fundling asked the committee to back a proposal requiring the Select Board to adopt a stabilization-fund spending policy by July 1 and commit to a target override year by September 1. Member Brian McGuire challenged the 5.2 percent school-expense assumption, citing DESE data showing Milton's pre-COVID average was 4.2 percent; Fundling responded that he is using the school administration's own detailed multi-year forecast and would "have a hard time arguing for anything other than what the schools gave us." No votes were taken; the committee plans to hold a public information session after the April 15 election and before Town Meeting opens.