OBSERVER Photo by Braden Carmen Town of Dunkirk Supervisor Priscilla Penfold was not pleased with the City of Dunkirk regarding police protection costs.

The Town of Dunkirk did not take kindly to an increase in cost for police protection requested by the city of Dunkirk, nor the process leading up to the unexpected increase.

Instead, the Town sent a clear message with its stance on renegotiating the rate it already budgeted for this year. Town of Dunkirk Supervisor Priscilla Penfold defined the Town’s approach as “take it or leave it.”

This past fall, Penfold reached out to City Hall regarding the Police Protection Contract, but her calls were not returned. She then reached out to then-Chief David Ortolano directly to request the cost of police protection for 2025. Ortolano responded via email on Aug. 15, stating a cost of $24,360 for the year — approximately $2,000 per month from the Town to the City for Dunkirk Police to patrol the Town. Penfold stated it was her belief that the figure was already an increase of approximately 2% from the previous year.

Since that time, Ortolano has retired and the City of Dunkirk’s financial struggles have been well documented. Penfold had not heard back from the City on the matter until the Town was presented with a contract that showed a figure much higher than Penfold was previously told.

The City of Dunkirk requested $2,579.50 per month for the length of the contract — nearly $600 per month higher than the Town expected. The 2025 Town of Dunkirk budget was crafted with the figure provided by Ortolano.

“I think we need some board discussion about this,” Penfold said at the most recent Town Board meeting.

Town Board member Jean Crane, who worked closely with Town Clerk Rebecca Yacklon in crafting the 2025 budget, expressed concern with the potential increase of approximately $6,000 over the course of the year. Crane said, “$6,000 is a lot of money to make up.”

Crane stated because it is early in the year, the Town has yet to determine if it over-budgeted any of the line items in this year’s budget. Therefore, it is unclear whether there is money available to make up the difference aside from exhausting contingency funds or dipping into the Town’s reserves.

“Why should we pay them another $6,000 a year when we’ve already had an agreement with the Chief of Police,” Town Board member Phil Leone said. “… I don’t agree with having to pay more money.”

Leone cited the city’s lack of response in Penfold’s initial attempts to negotiate the contract, as well as jurisdiction concerns with the City Police unable to make arrests in the Town as reasoning for not supporting an increase.

“Was I personally offended that they didn’t get back to me? Well, I didn’t like it. I felt like maybe we weren’t important enough,” Penfold said. “The other side of that coin is, there are much bigger fish to fry in the city of Dunkirk than the town of Dunkirk’s problems.”

Without a contract in place, the town has not received any report from the City Police yet in 2025. Penfold acknowledged that if no contract is in place, the city police is not required to provide reports or provide police protection. On the other hand, the Town should then not be responsible for paying for the time it was not protected.

“We don’t have any reports or evidence that there has been any patrol in January and this far into February. I say we don’t pay for January and February,” Town Board member Shari Miller said.

Crane later stated that a police presence is important to the Town, whether City Police officers can make arrests in the Town or not. The Town also discussed alternatives such as the State Police and Chautauqua County Sheriffs.

Town Attorney Jeff Passafaro provided examples of how other municipalities address police protection. He explained that Hanover is “not comparable” to the Town because of local laws in place in Hanover. Regarding Hanover’s agreement, Passafaro said, “You would find it extremely expensive.”

Following 15 minutes of discussion, the Town Board directed Penfold to inform the City that it would be willing to honor the initial figure presented by Ortolano at approximately $2,000 per month, beginning March through the end of the year.

As Leone said, the City can take the previously stated amount, “or take a hike.”