Millis Police, Fire Chiefs Request $373,000 in New Staffing Ahead of Town Meeting

MILLIS — March 4, 2026 — Millis public safety chiefs told the Finance Committee their departments are running below safe staffing levels as residential growth accelerates. Police Chief asked the committee Wednesday to fund two additional officers and a lieutenant position at a combined $290,000 — $260,000 for the officers with full benefits and $30,000 for the lieutenant adjustment — warning that midnight shifts are regularly staffed with only two officers against a recommended minimum of three. The department currently fields 18 sworn officers against a median of 22 in comparable communities and an FBI-recommended target of 25 for a town approaching 10,000 residents. Fire Chief Parent requested an $83,000 increase to on-call firefighter wages, from $100,000 to $183,000, to fund overnight in-station staffing as a lower-cost alternative to hiring four full-time firefighters at roughly $500,000; he reported concurrent calls have roughly doubled year-over-year to approximately 800, and that the on-call roster has fallen from 14 to 8. Council on Aging Director Amory Gannon sought restoration of $10,000 in transportation funding cut in June, noting the department had exhausted its allotment by late January and a UMass survey of seniors ranked transportation as the second greatest barrier to aging in place.