City of Dunkirk council members have started their work on Mayor Kate Wdowiasz’s proposal that increases taxes 108%. Obviously, there is plenty to scrutinize.

For her part last week, Councilwoman Natalie Luczkowiak of the First Ward noted some suggestions she would like to see in the budget process to get the tax rate lowered.

“Make sure the administration costs reflect only the employees we have now and not a full staff,” she said in a statement. “Anything in the budget for hopeful future employees or employees needing to hire to fill the usual spots should be deleted. We need to work with what we have.”

Luczkowiak also suggested cutting all department costs by 10% and selling back one of two recently purchased fire trucks, which have not yet been delivered.

Dunkirk and previous councils allowed for this deep hole to happen. They never looked over spread sheets or requested a monthly analysis of a cash-flow statement.

That’s unthinkable in the private sector. But this is a government, where elected leaders and staff often show little discomfort or accountability when it comes to spending.

That’s caught up to this city — big time.