Dunkirk Mayor Kate Wdowiasz

DUNKIRK — The salary of Dunkirk Mayor Kate Wdowiasz remains at $54,500 in the city’s approved 2026 budget.

Wdowiasz’s initial budget proposal in October included a $20,500 hike in the mayor’s salary line. Just days later, she changed course.

“That was not actually a raise. I was trying to accurately reflect what an insurance buyout would look like for an elected official,” she claimed. “There is a local law on the books from 1992 that entitles every elected official to receive a full insurance premium buyout for a family plan. I was looking to take a portion of that and not the full amount which totals about $27,000 a year.”

The mayor continued, “I have since separated it out, making my salary back down to the $54,500 it currently sits at, and I have added an additional line under our insurance benefits that shows what that dollar amount would be, should I choose to take that insurance buyout. That is all that that was, I was trying to be as transparent as possible.”

However, there doesn’t appear to be a line item in the adopted budget that explicitly deals with insurance benefits for the mayor position. Several items mention generic “employee benefits.” The budget can be viewed on the city’s website.

Wdowiasz said back in October she has required her appointed officials to sign an agreement that, effective Jan. 1, they will no longer be allowed to do insurance buyouts.

The Common Council approved the city budget, which includes a 2% tax increase, earlier this month.