Mayor says water rate saga delays budget
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Dunkirk Mayor Kate Wdowiasz reiterated last week that the holdup on proposed city water rate increases is also holding back her budget proposal.
City mayors traditionally offer their budget proposals for the upcoming year in September, but Wdowiasz has not offered hers for 2027.
"We need to make sure council understands the importance of why this is necessary. We need to stress to residents that these rates haven't gone up in 10 years," she said at her monthly meeting with department heads.
The Common Council has held a public hearing on the proposed water rate changes. No one bothered to comment.
However, it failed to vote on the law to make the changes at its last meeting, because the law wasn't on the agenda. City Comptroller Tracy Smith-Dengler took the fall for that, stating that as she is new at her job, she didn't realize the item needed to be specifically placed on that meeting’s agenda in order for a vote to be held.
Several council members, especially Natalie Luczkowiak, have expressed wariness about the proposed changes, though none have firmly come out against them. The council's next meeting is set for Tuesday.
"I'm disappointed in the responses to the water rates. I thought we were being very fair," commented Department of Public Works chief Randy Woodbury.
"If we don't have residents absorb some of this problem, it will be a much harder hit on industries. They've told us that," he added.
The proposal raises the "base fee" that all residents pay on their bills to $30, a $10 hike. Use of water after 3,000 gallons will be billed at $5 a gallon; it's currently $4.33 a gallon after 2,000 gallons used.
The proposed law also ends the "declining block rate" system that charges far less for large quantities of water used by industries.
"I'm trying to finalize our budget numbers based on everyone's feedback," Wdowiasz said earlier in her meeting. "Hopefully we can get the budget out sooner or later."
The mayor usually tries to offer hard-hitting honesty about the city's financial situation, and there was some more of that.
Wdowiasz warned the city might hit the New York State Constitution-imposed limit on tax hikes in its 2027 budget. After that, "there's no turning back" -- the next thing to look at is cutting from departments.
Wdowiasz referred to a source of severe frustration among residents, the suspension of regular city brush pickups and drop offs. "We just can't afford that," she said. "We can't afford to continue the grind that up and make it feasible."
"Residents think that 86% tax increase covers all these services," such as the brush pile, she said. "It does not."
Wdowiasz asked her department heads to please tell the public that "we are doing the best we can with what we have."
The mayor also offered that she will start looking more for solutions from people about Dunkirk's financial problems.