HEA 1001 Could Shift Dunkirk's Public Safety Funding to County Control

From the Dunkirk City Council meeting on July 27, 2026

The city attorney and clerk-treasurer attended a webinar about HEA 1001's Local Income Tax restructuring and briefed the council on major changes ahead for Dunkirk's funding.

Under the new structure, cities with populations under 3,500 — which includes Dunkirk — will lose independent control of their public safety LIT revenue. The county council will set an overall public safety rate of around 2% to 3% and decide how to allocate it among municipalities. Police, fire, and EMS funding are all affected. This allocation must be renegotiated every year.

The changes also affect economic development funding, including LIT money that currently flows to the Joint County Development Corporation, which has funded Dunkirk projects including the community center and pool.

A county-level meeting is scheduled for August 26 to begin working through the new allocation process. The restructuring takes effect in the 2028–2029 budget cycle, but the state wants meetings and proposals submitted this fall. All elected officials were urged to attend.

The mayor said Dunkirk is "in pretty good shape right now" financially but is concerned about potential cuts.

Source: Meeting transcript — City of Dunkirk - City Council Meeting - July 27, 2026

Some information may be inaccurate due to video audio quality.