It is not only the lack of oversight with city budgets that has been troubling the city of Dunkirk in recent years. During this week’s Finance Committee meeting, another revelation came to light: the city is not properly keeping track of overtime.

What other disaster is on the horizon?

Fiscal Affairs Officer Ellen Luczkowiak said Monday the state Labor Department found the city police department had been keeping inaccurate records regarding overtime when it made a stop at City Hall last month. “We’re going to have a pretty hefty bill coming up we’re going to have to pay out, based on our agreement with the Department of Labor,” she said.

Luczkowiak wasn’t sure of the exact payment but said it was somewhere between $100,000 and $150,000. The payment is due within 90 days.

In the meantime, the Labor Department’s visit came during the same month when allegations were made that the city was not paying its staff for hours worked that exceeded 40 hours. It does not matter what the city policy is, state labor law supersedes any local edict.

Whoever made the decision to hold back overtime wages did not understand the ramifications. It appears to be another knee-jerk, uneducated decision.

Dunkirk has many problems tied to its careless ways with funds and financial reports in the past. It also appears there needs to be a change in human resources, with better oversight so these problems do not persist.