OBSERVER Photo by M.J. Stafford Dunkirk Councilperson-at-large Nick Weiser, left, hands papers to the other Common Council members Saturday at a meeting to pass the city's 2025 budget.

A cold, clear morning in Dunkirk finally brought a cold, clear number on the upcoming tax hike: 84%.

The Common Council unanimously passed a 2025 budget during a special Saturday morning meeting, and the city property tax rate is going up to $33.82 per $1,000 of assessed property value.

That number — up 84% from the 2024 tax rate — is lower than the 108% increase in the initial budget proposal, made by Mayor Kate Wdowiasz in September. However, it’s higher than the approximately 69% council had cut it to.

The 69% relied on a water and wastewater rate structure change that hasn’t happened yet. Councilperson-at-large Nick Weiser said added revenue from that move got cut, a big reason the number went back up to 84%.

Wdowiasz vetoed the council’s amendments, but the council unanimously voted to override her. The mayor said after the meeting she wasn’t surprised at the result.

Wdowiasz said council cut some part-time positions, but she is unsure of the cost savings.

“I’m not in favor of eliminating positions in such an abrupt swipe of the pen,” she said. “I really think that more thought should have gone into it — and seeing as how I proposed the budget in late September, and here we are, the 14th of December, passing a budget.” (The council legally had to pass a budget by Dec. 15.)

The mayor added, “I’m hoping we don’t have any shortfalls this year, because this version of the budget gives us absolutely zero room for overage.”

Weiser noted the budget contains “longstanding contractual obligations which cannot easily be undone” without causing costly legal trouble.

He emphasized that councilors will continue to look at more options for cuts and added revenue, including the water and sewer rate changes removed from the final budget. Weiser advocates the rate changes, which would alter or eliminate a block-usage system that lets high-volume customers pay less.

For now, he acknowledged, “You have to be realistic about not overprojecting on revenues, especially if you don’t know what the revenues will be.”

“We tried very hard to bring it down to a more reasonable number to our taxpaying base,” Councilperson Nancy Nichols told the OBSERVER.

“We’ve had discussions about going on a payment plan so people don’t have to pay (their taxes in) one lump sum. We are very disappointed we did not bring it down to the low 60s,” she added.

Nichols echoed Weiser in saying that council’s room to maneuver was limited by contracts. “We cannot touch any of it,” she said.

The veteran council member bashed both Wdowiasz and previous Mayor Willie Rosas.

Nichols claimed that during the budget process, Wdowiasz discouraged department heads from working with the council on a Weiser request to cut 10% from each of their budgets.

“We didn’t put ourselves in this position, Willie did,” Nichols said of Wdowiasz’s two-term predecessor. “All these budgets that we were told were balanced, weren’t balanced. This is the most honest budget we’ve had for eight years.”

Weiser stood out in his first budget process as Councilperson-at large, Nichols said. “For a new guy in that position he’s done a remarkable job.”

“It has been many, many sleepless nights” working on this budget, she concluded.