Recent budget concerns from the city of Dunkirk fire and police chiefs speak to the realities of a number of upstate New York municipalities. It does not just come down to the costs of manpower — which is the contractual agreement, but additional expenses due to the fact these agencies are on call 24-7 for 365 days.

Consider what happened earlier this month during a budget meeting. Both chiefs, who are doing an excellent job considering the turmoil the city is going through, discussed shortfalls in the 2026 proposal.

To begin, personnel is more than $6 million for both departments, according to Chris Witkowski, police chief, and Nick Barter, fire chief. Though they pointed out concerns with payroll projections, there was one other big number: overtime.

Witkowski projected $210,000 for his department. Mayor Kate Wdowiasz budgeted just $122,000. Barter said those costs for the Fire Department are more likely to be $300,000 for the year, when $180,000 was budgeted.

“We haven’t spent $150,000 (or less) in overtime since 2010,” Barter said.

These discussions go back to the points we continue to make regarding the future of the city of Dunkirk and a number of other stressed entities in this county. Expenses are the most important item of every budget. But they are nearly impossible to reduce due to iron-clad contracts that offer very little wiggle room.

Dunkirk’s projected tax increase is 2% this year. We do not believe that is a legitimate number. Seeing the budget projections in salaries and overtime, especially from the chiefs, we know those costs are already underfunded.

It is one more reason why the city missed an opportunity of having a control board. As we have said in the past, no matter who is elected to govern the city, they are ultimately powerless when it comes to reining in rising expenses.