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MAY 2017 BOND ELECTION
<br />Some clarifications:
<br />• In the last 12 years, the city tax rate went down six times, from 69.500 to 50.195 (or by 27.77 %).
<br />• Only about 19.8% of most people's total property tax bills go to the city; the rest goes to Lamar County,
<br />PJC, and the school districts.
<br />• In 2013 the city council authorized a bond election for water & sewer improvements, which over-
<br />whelmingly approved the sale of up to $45 million in general obligation bonds.
<br />• The city sold $35 million of these bonds in 2013, and $9 million in 2016. Debt on utilities projects is paid
<br />by water & sewer bills, not taxes.
<br />• The city council could sell certificates of obligation with no input from citizens.
<br />• Instead they want local citizens to vote and decide for themselves.
<br />Do we need it?
<br />• The city owns and maintains nearly 174 miles of city streets (this does not include state highways within
<br />the city that are maintained by TXDOT).
<br />• We budget $518,000 per year for materials for street maintenance and repair; our total annual Street
<br />Division budget is $1.5 million. But many of our streets are so old they need to be completely replaced,
<br />not just repaired; current funding only maintains our streets, it does not improve or replace them.
<br />• The city owns and operates 21 parks, some of which include equipment that is out of date and
<br />potentially unsafe (some of which has already been taken out of service). Priority for improvements and
<br />equipment replacement are in Oak, Wade, and Williams Parks, though funds may be expended in other
<br />public parks where most needed to ensure safety and promote usage.
<br />Can we afford it?
<br />• Interest rates remain very low by historic standards, so this is an excellent time to issue debt.
<br />• Paris Junior College's tax rate will be decreasing at a higher rate than the city proposes to raise its rates,
<br />so total rates will actually go down for Paris taxpayers.
<br />• The city can sell $10 million in new debt to pay for this important work, and Paris property owners will
<br />still pay a lower total tax bill.
<br />• The average home price in Paris is about $76,300, so a five cent city tax rate increase would cost the
<br />average homeowner $38.15 per year in city taxes; but remember that owner's total tax bill would still go
<br />down by about $36.09 because of the decrease in the PJC rate.
<br />What streets will be done?
<br />PROJECTS
<br />LENGTH
<br />TOTAL PROJECT
<br />DISTRICT
<br />Church, Hearne to Clarksville
<br />3700'
<br />2,106,277
<br />5
<br />33 SE, Lamar to Clarksville
<br />4300'
<br />3,049,455
<br />6,7
<br />24 SE, Clarksville to Lamar
<br />2750'
<br />1,475,910
<br />5,6
<br />Collegiate, Lamar to Clarksville
<br />3545'
<br />382,568
<br />6
<br />Graham, 3rd to RR
<br />2700'
<br />1,914,750
<br />2,4
<br />6th, Pine Bluff to Evergreen
<br />7045'
<br />75,348
<br />1, 3, 5
<br />7NW, Graham to Center
<br />4960'
<br />405,090
<br />2,4
<br />17NE, Clarksville to Pine Bluff
<br />2400'
<br />1,288,058
<br />1,5
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