Kennebunkport’s Select Board is moving to end the town’s financial support for Christmas Prelude — an abrupt change after weeks of discussion over potential ways to alleviate the popular annual celebration’s cost to taxpayers.

Officials say the shift was prompted by the discovery of an ordinance that classifies Prelude as a commercial gathering and essentially bars the town from supporting it financially.

Town Manager Laurie Smith said a resident brought the ordinance to town leaders’ attention last week, one day prior to a joint meeting of the Select Board and Budget Committee where board Chair Jon Dykstra announced that the town would no longer pay for a portion of Prelude.

Prelude is run by, and largely paid for, the Kennebunkport Business Association. But the town has long covered thousands in wages to its workers — including police, firefighters and Public Works employees — who are a crucial part of safely putting on the event, which draws crowds of thousands to the heart of the small seaside town each December.

Concerns from officials over those wage costs, as well as complaints from some residents over congestion and safety issues during Prelude, were the impetus for recent discussions about how to reform the event while preserving its spirit.

One of the ideas proposed was an adjusted cost-sharing agreement that would have the town fund one weekend of Prelude while the KBA pays for the other. But the KBA declined that offer. KBA President Tina Hewett-Gordon was unavailable for comment Tuesday afternoon.

Ashley Padget, the owner and general manager of Alisson’s Restaurant and a member of the KBA, said the town’s business community felt “completely blindsided” by the news. 

“ It’s frustrating that we feel like every decision that’s being made is kind of behind closed doors,” Padget said Tuesday. “ There’s never any discussion. It just feels really underhanded.” 

Smith, the town manager, said in an emailed response to questions Tuesday that the Select Board did not have time to notify business leaders and other stakeholders before the March 19 meeting because of the timing of the ordinance’s discovery.

The town’s ordinance on mass gatherings dictates in part that the organizers of commercial gatherings — including Prelude — are responsible for paying the town to cover traffic, crowd control and security costs, as calculated by the chief of police.

The agenda for Thursday night’s Select Board meeting includes consideration of potential amendments to that ordinance.

“The Selectboard has been actively exploring potential options since last week, including whether any ordinance changes or funding approaches should be considered,” Smith wrote. “The agenda item is intended to allow for that discussion in a public setting. At this time, no decisions have been made, and any potential changes would ultimately require further review and likely voter consideration.”

Dykstra said Tuesday that the Select Board intends to leave potential ordinance changes up to voters and that he would be open to more questions from a reporter after Thursday’s meeting.

Padget said it feels like town officials have had little regard for the huge impact that alterations to Prelude could have on businesses.

“ My jaw hit the floor,” she said. “Like, what is this? This can’t be real. Why are they doing this again? And why didn’t they at least give us a heads-up again?”