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Special Council Meeting August 19, 2024 Page 2 Paris to number 3 in comparison to other cities. He reviewed option B at $68,000.00 and said this would place Paris as number 2. He also reviewed option C which would put the City at number 2 but very close to Denison. Mr. Anderson explained how increasing the police salaries, updating the credit service and giving a COLA to the retirees could be done by initiating the de- minimis tax rate. He said they have to decide how to get from where we were to where we wanted to be. Mr. Anderson said the most economical approach to do this was to go with Option A. He said that they could see if they could attract and retain officers and if not, they could increase the salaries next year. Mr. Vine said if they go with the $66,000.00 increase, they would have to do a de -minimus tax rate for two years. Mayor Pro -Tem Savage wanted to know how risky it would be on the reserves. Mr. Anderson explained it was a low risk and that they had to retain four months in reserves. He said with the other two options, the risk tripled but that would not make the City dip into their reserves, and that this was doable. Mayor Pankaj said he originally wanted to go with $70,000.00 but after seeing where Paris is on a regional scale, he was good with $66,000.00 because Paris ranked third. Mayor Pro -Tem Savage wanted to know if they initiated the de-minimis rate to accomplish retiree COLA, what would that amount to for each household. Mr. Anderson said on an average homestead of $148,000.00, it would amount to $13.62 a year. Council Member Kessel favored $66,000.00 and asked Chief Salter if he thought they could attract new officers. Chief Salter said retention was the primary issue, because they were losing officers who had been with the City one to five years to local agencies. He also said that Lamar County provided take home cars for their deputies and the call volume was less than the City. Chief Salter said the County and School Districts recruit from the Police Department and that would continue until the City has a substantial pay gap. He emphasized the problem was with retention and that the competition was local. Mayor Pankaj asked if $66,000.00 would get the City where it needed to be. Chief Salter said $68,000.00 or $70,000.00. Council Member Putnam inquired about the cost of the COLA package and Mr. Anderson said it was about 1.1 million dollars, because a COLA could not be given to retirees without the updated credit service. Mayor Pankaj inquired of Council how they wished to proceed. Council Member Norment said she wanted to go for $70,000.00 because the thought that would get Paris where it needed to be and keep it there. Mayor Pro -Tem Savage said he was good with $68,000.00 or $70,000.00. He added that police officers protect the City and as a Council, they needed to do whatever was necessary. Mayor Pankaj said he was good with a compromise of $68,000.00 and doing a COLA for retirees. Council Member Kessel said he was good with $66,000.00 or $68,000.00 and if needed, they could bump it up to $70,000.00 next year. Council Member Putnam said police pay was priority and favored $70,000.00. Council Member Ellis said if they could do it, that he wanted to do $70,000.00 and provide the COLA. Mayor Pankaj suggested looking at items to see where they could cut from the budget. Mr. Vine asked if there were particular items that Council wanted to review. Mayor Pankaj referenced department 12 (city manager) and inquired about using some of those funds from the second assistant city manager position. Mr. Vine explained that would only be about $15,000.00 because the person who had been in that position was also serving as the director of a department. Mayor Pro -Tem Savage said when they bring someone in to fill that director position, that it would not be at the top pay. Council Member Norment said also there would be savings when they hire a new city manager, because they would not be bringing that person in at the same pay Grayson Path was making.