SENECA FALLS — The Town Board defeated a proposal to fix a 2014 error on the state retirement plans for two Seneca Falls police officers.
The resolution at the Dec. 2 meeting was rejected 3-2. Jackson Puylara, Kaitlyn Laskoski, and Dawn Dyson were opposed, while Frank Sinicropi and Supervisor Frank Schmitter voted in favor.
The error affected Lt. Tom Cleere and Sgt. Bethany Kidd, both of whom were hired in 2014. They were put into the incorrect state retirement plan, preventing them from being able to retire after 20 years of service.
The two spoke to the board in August, asking to be put into the proper system. Schmitter said at the time it would cost the town roughly $500,000 in back payments to make the correction, as well needing a home-rule bill passed by the State Legislature and signed by the governor.
Puylara was assigned to work with Cleere and Kidd in the coming months to try to craft a solution that works for the officers and the town.
Cleere and Kidd did not respond to an email seeking comment.
In the summer, Sinicropi cited a 2024 letter from the New York State Comptroller’s Office to Assemblyman Jeff Gallahan, R-131 of Manchester, who was seeking information on the retirement snafu. Sinicropi said the comptroller’s office indicated it was the officers’ fault they were not enrolled in the right plan, alleging that they failed to respond to letters that gave them their option to enroll in the 20-year plan. The comptroller’s office letter says it is the responsibility of the employee, not the town, to return the paperwork to rectify the situation, adding that the only way to undo it is by state law.
The officers denied those claims, saying they never received those letters.