Ellsworth has initiated a citywide discretionary spending freeze, citing budget pressures that include overtime overages in several departments.
Officials say the spending pause is intended to ensure budget stability heading into the end of the fiscal year.
The city has tabled plans to renovate Knowlton Park playground amid the freeze. The renovation of the 22-year-old playground was set to begin this spring with the installation of a new play structure.
Before the spending freeze, the city planned to propose a roughly $396,000 contract to replace the entire playground in 2027. Those plans are now on hold until further direction from the City Council, Parks Director Roddy Ehrlenbach said.
“Some of the pressure this year has come from overtime in public safety and public works,” City Manager Charlie Pearce said. “In the police department, that’s largely due to covering unexpected leaves and staffing transitions. In public works, overtime has been driven by a busy winter season, including several storm events that required holiday coverage.”
In a subsequent statement, Communications Director Amy Kenney said the freeze was not tied to any single department or budget line item, and the city was taking a “proactive approach” to ensuring budget stability.
Kenney also noted the current freeze is intended to prevent “departmental over-budgets” that were flagged in an audit of the city’s finances in fiscal year 2024.
The discretionary spending freeze, which Pearce described as a “routine way to stay on track with our budget,” comes after the police department spent 139% of its budgeted sick overtime payroll between July 2025 and January 2026, the first six months of the fiscal year, according to city documents.
That figure is $18,881 higher than it was during the same period last year.
“Overtime in public safety can fluctuate year to year and is often driven by factors that are difficult to predict in advance,” Kenney said. “This year, some of that increase has been related to extended leave coverage, including illness and family leave, which requires backfilling shifts to maintain public safety coverage.”
As of Jan. 31, the police department had spent 61% of its total budget for FY26.
The Ellsworth Police Department directed the Bangor Daily News to Kenney for comment on the matter.
The fire department’s overtime costs have also weighed on the city’s budget: in the first six months of the fiscal year, it spent 233% of its budgeted vacation overtime, exceeding the year’s total budget for that line item by $86,677, according to city documents.
“Overtime in the fire department is largely driven by the need to maintain minimum staffing levels 24/7,” Kenney said. “When firefighters are out on vacation, military leave or extended illness or injury, those shifts must be backfilled — which is where overtime comes into play.”
The fire department has spent 63% of its total budget in the first six months of FY26.
“Right now, departments are being asked to take a close look at their spending as we move toward the end of the fiscal cycle,” Pearce said. “If a specific line item is running over, departments can bring forward a reallocation request to the City Council so any adjustments are made transparently and within the approved budget.”
Before the early March pause in discretionary funding, Ehrlenbach planned to present the council with a contract for GameTime, the highest-scoring vendor that responded to a city proposal request and the same company that installed the current playgrounds at Knowlton Park and Ellsworth Elementary Middle School.
“The project was initially anticipated to be funded through a combination of Knowlton Park capital funds, Knowlton Property funds, and reserve accounts,” a March city memo says. “Current financial conditions require the city to carefully manage existing capital allocations.”
Ehrlenbach pivoted to ask the council for a letter of intent for a future project, which they denied during a March 16 council meeting.
There are no safety concerns with the current playground, Ehrlenbach said.