OBSERVER file photo by M.J. Stafford Council members, from left, Nick Weiser, Natalie Luczkowiak, Abby Zatorski, James Stoyle and Nancy Nichols.

Dunkirk Mayor Kate Wdowiasz has gone on record noting she is in favor of an additional $13.7 million loan from the state. Council members are not as giddy.

In a news release issued Wednesday morning, state Sen. George Borrello, R-Sunset Bay, announced that three Dunkirk Common Council members have come out in strong opposition to Gov. Kathy Hochul’s proposal to issue the loan to the city. The loan, which would carry a steep 7.5% interest rate over 15 years, would deepen the city’s fiscal distress while stripping away critical state aid the city relies on to function.

Council members who have stated their objection to the governor’s plan include Nancy Nichols, James Stoyle and Abigail Zatorski. Each sent letters to the governor outlining their opposition to the legislation, S. 8413, which was introduced on Monday.

“Our City Council members understand that this plan from the governor is not a rescue; it’s another burden for a city that is already struggling,” Borrello said. “They’ve made it clear that what Dunkirk needs isn’t another loan with strings attached, but lasting structural change that will finally bring order to years of fiscal chaos.”

Wdowiasz, in a statement to the OBSERVER on Wednesday, said the loan from the state will pay off the Revenue Anticipation Note was needed last year and comes due in July. “It’s paying for a bill we don’t have money to pay for,” she said, noting this does not add to the current debt.

She additionally said the loan from the state will not create any additional burden for residents in the 2026 budget. “We should not have a tax increase next year,” she said.

Under the terms of the state legislation, the city would forfeit its annual $1.5 million in Aid and Incentives for Municipalities (AIM) funding for the entire 15-year repayment period. In exchange, the city would assume new debt without the accountability mechanisms necessary to ensure lasting reform.

To be clear, Nichols and Stoyle have been along for the ride during the fiscal crisis that ballooned between 2020 and 2023. Both took office in 2020. Nichols advocated for $300,000 federal American Rescue Plan Act funds for bonuses for city workers and elected officials while she and Stoyle also backed purchases of fire equipment that cost more than $1 million. They also approved budgets during that time that included no tax increases and little fiscal documentation during those years.

This week, however, the financially unsavvy Republican council members are echoing Borrello’s concerns and have rejected this approach as fiscally irresponsible and unsustainable. They are instead calling for the passage of legislation to establish a financial control board, a solution Borrello has championed for months.

“Dunkirk doesn’t need another payday loan,” Borrello said. “It needs structure, oversight, and a clear path forward. A control board would bring the discipline and transparency that have been sorely lacking, along with a comprehensive strategy to stabilize the city’s finances. That’s the only way to break the cycle of dysfunction and restore confidence in city government.”

Borrello noted the city’s financial woes are the product of years of mismanagement, as well as a persistent failure to submit required fiscal documentation to the State Comptroller’s Office. These failings have delayed the issuance of previously authorized deficit bonds and left Dunkirk without a certified plan to close its growing budget gap.

“The loan proposal not only lacks accountability, it actively undermines it,” Borrello added. “We can’t reward failure with a blank check. Dunkirk’s residents deserve better than another political quick fix that will leave them deeper in debt and further behind.”

Borrello reaffirmed that his legislation offered the only path to real, lasting change and a better future for Dunkirk and its residents.