Cara Romano, director of Heart of Ellsworth, told the Finance Committee on March 28 that the nonprofit is seeking a more sustainable, formalized funding arrangement with the city and urged officials to consider using tax increment financing to support downtown programs.

Romano said Heart of Ellsworth reviewed other Maine main‑street organizations and found that most use TIF district funding. "We're hopeful and urging council, and, city staff, to consider funding Heart of Ellsworth through TIF district funding," she said, adding that many of the projects the organization advances align with the city's comprehensive plan and business attraction plan.

The request was presented as a discussion rather than a formal funding proposal. Romano described the types of downtown work the nonprofit leads — marketing and destination management, Franklin Street parklet assistance, seasonal street trees, façade grant coordination, an inventory of commercial spaces, a maker space and support for the proposed downtown historic designation. She also said Heart of Ellsworth is coordinating an engineering plan for a Riverwalk trailhead with Frenchmen Bay Conservancy and the Ellsworth Public Library and that those plans would be "gifted to the city," reducing direct city design costs.

Committee members asked for comparative data and examples. Finance staff and committee members requested a concise graph showing which Maine towns use TIF to fund main‑street organizations and how those programs are structured; Romano said she would share her research and examples from Old Town, Bath and Gardiner, and would retrieve sample memorandums of understanding used elsewhere. Romano also said Heart of Ellsworth's board will undertake strategic planning after the Main Street America conference in May and invited city participation in that process.

Committee members discussed accountability and procurement issues. Several members raised the idea that any increased city funding should be tied to clearly defined deliverables, year‑to‑year review and stronger governance — suggestions Romano said the Heart of Ellsworth board would welcome. Finance staff noted that using TIF to support a downtown nonprofit likely would require amending the TIF, and that procurement rules or requests for proposals (RFPs) might apply depending on the structure chosen; Romano said Heart of Ellsworth would respond to an RFP if required.

Next steps agreed at the meeting were that Romano would provide the committee and staff with her comparative research and a simple graph on TIF use by other towns, and that city staff would evaluate procurement and TIF amendment requirements before any formal funding change.

Romano framed the proposal as an effort to align the nonprofit's work with the city's stated goals: "All of these projects link back to getting the boxes checked for those items that have been identified by the city as part of the city's work plan moving forward," she said.

The discussion did not include a council vote or formal allocation of funds; committee members said they want examples, draft governance language and clarification about whether an amendment to the TIF or an RFP would be required before any funds are committed.