Dunkirk Mayor Kate Wdowiasz is wary of state Sen. George Borrello’s proposal for a city financial control board, and won’t get behind the legislation he will float in Albany to start it up.

City Councilman-at-Large Nick Weiser is a little more open to the plan.

Wdowiasz said Friday, “While I am not opposed to Sen. Borrello’s proposal for a control board, at this time I cannot support the legislation. I have asked his office on numerous occasions to provide me with the cost estimate to the residents, as well as sample legislation he would be proposing, and to date, I have not received the information.”

The mayor added, “I think calling for a control board at this time is premature. We are only in the first quarter of the adopted city budget under the current administration and have not had the opportunity to work through the budgetary constraints to show the city is becoming more fiscally responsible.

“Under my administration, we are looking at ways to eliminate duplicative positions and streamline how city government conducts business. I actively sought out legislation last year by way of the Dunkirk Fiscal Recovery Act to make sure the city was set up for financial stability in years to come, after I uncovered the large deficit the city was facing.”

Weiser offered what could be called qualified support for a control board.

“I can see some of the potential benefits,” he said. However, it’s a “complex issue” and “It’s something I need a little more information and clarity on.”

Weiser specified he wants to know just how much control the board would have — for example, would it oversee all city finances, or only purchases over a certain amount of money?

He also wondered, “What is the financial cost to the city of implementing the control board?” He stated that Buffalo’s control board cost the city’s taxpayers more than $900,000 this fiscal year, citing a news story he found with an online search engine while chatting with the OBSERVER. It’s worth noting that Buffalo is a much larger city, with more than 20 times the population of Dunkirk.

Wdowiasz also pointed out the cost to taxpayers of Buffalo’s control board, and noted the board has been in place since 2002. The added expense “is simply not a cost the city taxpayers can afford in addition to the current tax increase,” she said.

Weiser specified that he does not want to come off as against a control board. “Restoring financial stability and transparency is the most important thing,” he said. If a control board helped do that, the setup would “need to align to Dunkirk’s specific needs,” he said.

“Anything that could have financial consequence to city taxpayers, I want to be incredibly diligent in how we handle that. Conceptually, it’s a great idea,” Weiser said.

The councilman-at-large concluded he is looking forward to continued discussion and information gathering on the control board proposal “to determine the best path forward.”