The Seneca Falls Town Board voted down a proposal to correct a 2014 error in the state retirement plans for two police officers. The resolution failed 3-2 at the board’s Dec. 2 meeting. Councilmembers Jackson Puylara, Kaitlyn Laskoski, and Dawn Dyson opposed the measure, while Frank Sinicropi and Supervisor Frank Schmitter voted in favor.
The issue involves Lt. Tom Cleere and Sgt. Bethany Kidd, who were hired in 2014 and placed in the wrong retirement plan. As a result, they are currently unable to retire after 20 years of service. The officers first raised the issue with the board in August, requesting to be moved to the correct system.
Schmitter previously estimated that correcting the error would cost the town roughly $500,000 in back payments and require a home-rule bill to be passed by the State Legislature and signed by the governor.
Following the vote, Puylara was assigned to work with Cleere and Kidd in the coming months to explore alternative solutions that could satisfy both the officers and the town. Cleere and Kidd did not respond to requests for comment.
The debate has been further complicated by a 2024 letter from the New York State Comptroller’s Office to Assemblyman Jeff Gallahan, who had inquired about the retirement issue. The letter suggested the officers were responsible for not enrolling in the 20-year plan, claiming they failed to respond to the required paperwork. Cleere and Kidd deny ever receiving those documents.
The Town Board’s decision leaves the officers in their current retirement plan, with the search for a resolution ongoing.
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