Time for ‘hard decisions’ in city, speakers say
Trending
DUNKIRK – A hearing on Dunkirk's proposed 2027 budget saw five residents critical of city spending speak -- but the most passionate comments came afterward.
Linda Wierzba said during the Common Council's meeting Tuesday, held directly after the hearing, that she originally wasn't going to say anything. But she decided that she had to with the city budget so far including an 11% tax hike, two years after an 84% raise.
"The city has been spending money like the federal government’s spending it now, like there's no tomorrow," she said.
Meanwhile, Dunkirk is a "ghost town," she said, with Central Avenue dominated by out-of-area property owners who let them deteriorate, and a severe lack of quality housing.
"It's like nobody seems to care, nobody seems to want to make this town better," Wierzba continued. "Then we hire a comptroller (Tracy Smith-Dengler) -- no offense to you, lady -- but we don't have (any) money, but yet we spend $140,000 paying her? I just don't understand."
Councilman Michael Civiletto later pointed out that Smith-Dengler is getting paid through a New York state grant. However, that grant is projected to last two years.
Wierzba declared, "In my household, if I went and just kept spending, spending, spending and not having the money to pay my bills, what would happen? My house would go into foreclosure, they'd repossess my vehicles. I just don’t understand the mentality of this city. What's your plan for the future? Are we going to be back here next year to say, 'We're going to raise your taxes again'?"
As she left the podium, Wierzba questioned why a city of about 12,000 people has 36 police officers on its payroll.
The budget hearing's first speaker, Robert Whittemore, stated the city needed to make immediate cuts.
"I don't think that we as a city have really considered the hard decisions that might need to be made sooner rather than later," he said. "As a city, what can we do without? What can we merge?"
Whittemore opined that "The city as a whole, in my opinion, did not prepare for businesses that closed or left, NRG being the biggest. Remember we owe over $17 million in a loan. Can we really expect citizens to pay enough in taxes for what is lacking? Please look at ways to cut the budget for next year -- now."
The last of the five speakers, Rita Corsi, had a completely different take.
"I think it's important that this room talks with residents about how we can generate revenue. We cannot cut our way to being sustainable," she said.
Corsi initially questioned how a sales tax revenue line could be going up from $3.9 million to $4.275 million. She later said the city should be putting in more effort towards getting a bigger tax sharing cut from Chautauqua County.
The three other speakers complained about payroll items, as Wierzba later did.
Nancy Nichols criticized a proposed hire, to be paid $63,000, for the city's revamped finance department.
"Where is this money going to come from, a hefty 11% tax increase?" the former city councilwoman wondered. "The residents of our city can't afford the taxes now. You've taken away full brush collection, increased water rates, limited hours in the clerk's office. Please, take a very serious, close look at this budget. Don't be afraid to speak out, you took an oath to do your best for this city and its residents. This city is broke. Take a stand and be united."
Pete Pinkoski attacked Smith-Dengler's salary, reading off a bunch of salaries for Western New York municipal comptrollers. He claimed Buffalo's comptroller makes $10,000 less than Smith-Dengler.
"How can we be more than the city of Buffalo, that has 274,000 people living in that city?" he asked.
He also slammed the proposed finance department position.
"We're losing citizens and we're just putting in more people," Pinkoski said.
Albert Dawson said, "Leaving any department payroll line at zero dollars in an adopted budget is completely untransparent. It breeds financial confusion, hides true operating costs, and opens the door for improper mid-year transfers."
Councilman-at-large Nick Weiser subsequently offered a timeline for finalization of the proposed budget.
"My expectation is that we will have an initial set of council recommendations incorporated into the budget by mid-November," he said. "At that point we'll submit those recommendations to the Office of the State Comptroller for their review. They have 10 days to complete that review and provide any additional guidance, which we anticipate receiving in time to incorporate any final recommendations in time for our Dec. 1 council meeting."
It's presumed the budget will be a topic of conversation at a Common Council Finance Committee meeting Weiser announced for 9 a.m. Monday.