The city of Dunkirk is set to look at abolishing a couple of budget funds, in a move recommended by the state Comptroller’s Office.

A duo of resolutions on the Common Council agenda for Tuesday would consolidate a garbage and refuse fund, and a fund that handles the city Boardwalk, into Dunkirk’s general fund.

The garbage fund measure states that “independent audits and reviews by the New York State Comptroller have repeatedly identified deficiencies in the city’s accounting records, including fragmented fund structures that complicate financial reporting and obscure the city’s true fiscal position.”

Consolidating the garbage line into the general fund is supposed to “simplify accounting, improve transparency, and ensure that sanitation services are supported by recurring revenues within the cities primary operating fund,” and “align the city’s financial practices with recommendations from the state Comptroller and independent auditors, thereby strengthening oversight and accountability.”

The similar resolution to end the separate Boardwalk fund states that audits have found it is operating with a negative balance. Maintaining the fund separately from the general budget “has complicated financial reporting, obscured the city’s true fiscal position, and created inefficiencies in monitoring cash flow.”

Both funds would be dissolved as of Jan. 1. Mayor Kate Wdowiasz and Fiscal Affairs Officer Ellen Luczkowiak are supposed to offer reports to the council and the Comptroller’s Office by March 31 about the implementation of the dissolutions.

Both resolutions read that the city “has historically maintained” separate garbage and Boardwalk funds. However, it’s not a long history — the arrangement only started in 2022.

The mayor then, Wilfred Rosas, vetoed the 2022 budget in part because he thought pulling out the funds was a financially questionable decision. Treasurer Mark Woods and ex-Fiscal Affairs Officer Marsha Beach also criticized the move. However, the Common Council overrode Rosas’ budget veto.

“Basically, there is no revenue, no cash to fund that Jan. 1st, so we’d be operating with no revenue. It’s not gonna work,” Woods said in November 2021.