Mayor Kate Wdowiasz of Dunkirk takes notes during a City Council Finance Committee meeting Monday. Behind her stands Chris Pinkowski, a former city finance official, who is attending the meeting as a spectator. PJ photo by MJ Stafford
The mayor of Dunkirk, Kate Wdowiasz, will propose two different budgets in a few weeks.
Councilwoman Ellen Luczkowiak, who is in charge of finance, reported the news Monday during a meeting of the Dunkirk City Council’s Finance Committee. She said one budget bill would raise taxes up to the constitutional limit and would not cut services. The other budget bill would raise taxes only up to the cap set by the state legislature — and cut services.
“I can’t tell you how big the cuts would be,” Luczkowiak said.
Treasurer Mark Woods was asked to explain the difference between the constitutional limit and the tax cap. He said the constitutional limit is 2% of the average of all property values over the past five years. The Legislature’s tax cap, Woods said, is a calculation of how much revenue can be increased over the previous year’s budget.
Wdowiasz attended the meeting but said little. She sat off to the side, away from the conference table, and explained that it was the city council meeting.
She spoke up when Luczkowiak said gifts and donations to various community organizations would be cut from the new budget. “I’ve spoken to every group that receives a donation from the city and told them we can’t do that this year,” Wdowiasz said.
Luczkowiak and Woods also discussed external audits of the city’s budgets for 2022 and 2023. The audits will be conducted by Elma firm Drescher & Malecki.
“They’ve gotten everything they’ve asked for so far,” Luczkowiak said. Woods said auditors have been at City Hall for the past three weeks.
One “problem,” according to Luczkowiak, is that the Dunkirk Local Development Corporation and the city’s Industrial Development Agency have not been audited since 2021. Drescher & Malecki is working on audits for the two organizations.
Luczkowiak said the 2022 exam information is “under review.” She hopes both the 2022 and 2023 exams can be completed by year’s end.
The audits are key components of the state government’s Fiscal Recovery Act. “Ultimately, (the state) is waiting for us to complete the 2023 audit so they can go through and certify our debt,” Luczkowiak said.
The finance officer offered to answer any questions about the city’s financial situation. “Come on over,” she said. “I’ll show you everything you want to know.”
