Council looks at its options for retaining officers

DUNKIRK — With two police officers planning to leave their posts, city officials are considering their options for retaining remaining employees while sticking to their budget. 

That includes the possibility of requiring employees to pay more for their insurance coverage. 

Dunkirk City Council had a special meeting Thursday to discuss possible raises or insurance changes for the city’s police department and other employees. 

Mayor Gene Ritter told council that with the departure of Donnie Miller, the department’s captain, and investigator Jeff Hopkins, the city should do something to encourage the remaining officers to stay. 

“I wanted to get our group together. I don’t know if there’s anything we can do to get them to change their minds,” Ritter said. “But we need to try to stop the bleeding if nothing else.” 

He gave possibilities such as a small raise for officers, improving insurance coverage and allowing officers to buy into a family plan. Currently, all city employees pay $1 per year for insurance and the city covers the rest, but no plan for family coverage is available. 

But council member Bryan Jessup said that while he would like to give police and other city employees a raise, he doesn’t think it’s possible. He’s afraid that if Dunkirk continues to overspend, the state could decide to take over.

“What we want and what we feel doesn’t necessarily line up with what we have,” Jessup said. “We’re spending more than we’re making. It’s not going to run out in the next year, two years. But it’s coming if we don’t do something.”

He pointed out that giving each of Dunkirk’s six police officers an extra $2 an hour would cost the city an additional $25,000 a year. 

The two officers who have resigned may have had other reasons than just finances, clerk-treasurer Tina Elliott told council. 

“I don’t think it’s all about the money, there’s other issues,” Elliott said. “There’s reasons your police officers are leaving other than money.”

She did not elaborate on what those reasons could be. 

Council members Jack Robbins, Tom Johnson, Jesse Bivens and Jessup, absent Lisa Street, discussed ways to trim the city’s budget, including by reducing or eliminating overtime for police officers and dispatchers. Next year’s budget is still in the works and will be presented to council later this year. 

One possibility is to have all city employees pay for a portion of their insurance coverage out of each paycheck. Ritter has asked the city’s provider, Barnum-Brown Insurance, to bring several different options during its annual presentation this fall. 

Such a change would help reduce the city’s costs — Elliott estimated that the city pays an average of $650 to $700 a month for each of its 24 employees. 

“Without hurting our employees as much as possible, see what we can get out of our insurance to help our budget,” Ritter said. 

Jessup and Robbins both expressed support for exploring changes to the city’s insurance policy. 

“You’re on the right track with the insurance, that’s going to have to happen to cut the budget,” Jessup said. “It sucks but it’s going to have to happen. If we don’t do it, we’re going to be in a lot of trouble.”

No decisions were made Thursday as council will wait to hear what options it has during Barnum-Brown’s presentation later this year.