ELLSWORTH — After a false start last Wednesday, when the City Council’s first budget workshop was cancelled after only two councilors showed up, officials Monday night began reviewing a proposed $10,359,705 municipal budget.

The budget, as it now stands, reflects a $520,703 increase. The net proposed budget, less city revenues, is $7,193,745.

The city’s share of the Regional School Unit 24 budget is unknown. The school budget will be presented to the council May 14.

At Monday’s workshop, City Manager Michelle Beal said most of the department budgets were flat or showed a slight decrease.

“Overall, once again, the department heads have done an excellent job,” she said.

One area of significant increase was in the budget for the Public Works Department, which will soon be responsible for caring for more roads.

Now that the city’s population exceeds 7,500, the state Department of Transportation has designated Ellsworth as an urban compact area. That means the city will be responsible for maintaining some of the state roads within Ellsworth.

The state will provide additional funding for those roads, but not enough to cover all costs.

City staff proposes hiring an additional full-time employee for the Highway Department to handle the additional workload.

For more of the latest news, pick up a copy of The Ellsworth American.