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05 - City Council MinutesItem No. 5 MINUTES OF THE SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF THE CITY OF PARIS, TEXAS September 3, 2019 The City Council of the City of Paris met for a special session at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, September 3, 2019, at the City Council Chamber, 107 E. Kaufinan, Paris, Texas. Present: Mayor: Steve Clifford Council Members: Derrick Hughes; Linda Knox; Clayton Pilgrim; and Paula Portugal City Staff: Gene Anderson, Interim City Manager/Finance Director; Stephanie Harris, City Attorney; Janice Ellis, City Clerk; Bob Handley, Police Chief; Mike Vogel, Fire Chief; Kent Klinkerman, EMS Director; Doug Harris, Utilities Director; 'Jerry McDaniel, Public 1 Works Director, Carla Easton, City Engineer; Priscilla McAnally, Library Director; and Clyde Crews, Fire Marshal Absent: Council Member: Renae Stone and Billy Trenado 1. Call meeting to order. Mayor Clifford called the meeting to order at 5:30,p.m. 2. Citizens' forum. No one spoke during citizens' forum. 3. Conduct the first public hearing on the City's proposed tax rate for 2019-2020. Interim City Manager Gene Anderson said Section 140.010 of the Local Government Code required two public hearings on the proposed City tax rate. Mayor Clifford asked if the hearings were required only if the tax rate was effectively increased. Gene — only if you raise the tax revenue. Mayor Clifford opened the public hearing and asked for anyone wishing to speak about the tax rate, to please forward. Steve Ekstrom, 725 Medalist, he said last month he and his wife appeared before the Lamar County Appraisal District to oppose the increase in their property value. He said they were told appraisals were raised a blanket 8% because the Comptroller told them they had to do that. He inquired if anyone had seen that specific paperwork from the Comptroller. He urged City Council to find out where it came from and to have their attorney to determine if there was September 3, 2019 Page 2 legal justification. Mayor Clifford asked City Attorney Stephanie Harris if that was somethi the City could do and she told him the City could look into it but the City could not set prope values. 11 Steve Clifford, 2050 Silverleaf Drive, he said this was the fifth year he had been on City Council and he did not plan to support a tax increase. He said for four years straight they had left the tax rate the same, which essentially increased taxes for the citizens of Paris. Mayor Clifford said this year many people were going to get hit with increased tax bills, and he was not going to support a tax increase for the citizens of Paris. Mayor Clifford said when property values increased taxes increased, and they could not continue raising taxes. He said he was not going to support a budget that increased taxes for a fifth year in a row. James O'Bryan, 3150 Bonham Street, 3150 Bonham Street, he said agreed with the Mayor. He said there were not a lot of details in the line items. He said the tax rate should not be increased unless it could be justified for what the citizens were getting,,, He also said the City should look at expenses, such as the amount of postage spent and ng to' _erless documents. pap Mayor Clifford ek amed if�he tax rate was to remain the's'ame and because of increased Pi property values, they would actually need to decrease the tax r0te in order to remain revenue neutral regarding the existin g properties. He said they would still; be allowed to increase the revenue with new properties coming into town. Mayor Clifford also said they would have to decrease the tax rate monetarily to remain revenue neutral. With no one else speaking, Mayor Clifford closed the publi I c hearing. 4. Conduct a public ; hearing on, the City Manager's proposed budget for fiscal year 2019- 2020. Mayor Clifford opened the public hearing and asked for anyone wishing to speak abo this item, to please come forward. i Council Member Pilgrim said he had tagged several items that he wanted to review, one budgeted salaries that appeared to be more than the actual salaries, such as in the streets and highways budget. Mr. Anderson said they were not able to fill some of those budgeted positions and used contract labor. Council Member Pilgrim also referenced several other increases in salaries and inquired if there were buffers in the line items. Council Member Pilgrim said on page 20 in community development there was a big increase. Council Member Pilgrim said he thought they could get the budget down. Council Member Knox said one of the budget documents they received reflected the number of employees that were budgeted and it would be good to know how many of those positions were filled with contract labor. Mayor Clifford said if Mr. Anderson could cut the budget by $560,000, they would not have to raise the tax rate. Council Member Pilgrim inquired the difference in the tax rate if they shave the budget by $560,000. Mr. Anderson said instead of 55.195 cents per $100 valuation, that they would have the effective tax r1te of 51.608. Council Member Knox inquired if there were any specific September 3, 2019 Page 3 projects that were budgeted to use up that $560,000. Mr. Anderson said the quickest way to reach that amount would be to look at the capital fund where there were large ticketed items. Council Member Portugal said if they could speed up the downtown project, she would be willing to keep the tax rate or reduce it by one-half. Mayor Clifford inquired of Council how they wanted to proceed. Council Member Kn said she would like to try to see if they could keep the budget neutral. Council Member Hugh expressed concern about cutting from salaries, in that it might be more difficult to retain go employees. Council Member Portugal suggested to Mr. Ekstrom that he also contact their Sta Representative Gary VanDeaver as to the school taxes, because legisla ot tors had promised t� relief. She said the school taxes were much higher than City taxes. Retired TxDOT emploY4 Steve Ekstrom said he would nsell his house for the appraised value, and that PISD needed throttle back on their budget. I Council Member Pilgrim said he would like to see some cuts to the budget Ma Clifford said he would like Mr. Anderson to se& if he could get the budgef' neutral. M Clifford said this money had been s read uniforml - 'all over the budget, in a thousand places P yl a a y that is why the3�could not find it. He said once, Mr.. Anderson brings the budget bck tobu a] a dg eutr4l, the Council could decide if a project w4s important, and could add a little back t said they did not know what they were getting'for their money and that the Council was t guardians of taxpayer money. Council Member, Pilgrim' said they would see an increase in tax by lowering them, because lower taxes wouldO'ncourage growth. aid maybe they could I ok at general revenue and'annexi Citizen Chad Lindsey s p rop eity. Citizen James O'Bryan suggested d they use, a e part to pay off ebt and 9 gener more income. Mayor Clifford closed the j2ublic h Mr. Anderson explained that if any item was increased in this budget a public heari , would be required, and there would not be sufficient time to act on that unless staff knew wh, the increases were tonight. Mr. Anderson said if they wanted to get back to revenue neutral, alternative would be to adopt a rate that was going to allow some increase. He said then October after the budget was adopted, Council could come back and amend it. Mr. Anders said at that time, they could increase items. Mayor Clifford confirmed they could tell Anderson to decrease items, adopt a higher tax rate at a future meeting but lower than what th have, and then amend the budget in another month. Council Member Knox said by then th would have the year-end numbers, could see where they actually were andthat would be a gre, help. It was a consensus of the City Council to have Mr. Anderson try to get the budget back t® budget neutral. 5. Discuss and act on a Resolution calling a public hearing on proposed amendments to the proposed budget for fiscal year 2019-2020. City Council Special Meeting September 3, 2019 Page 4 Mayor Clifford said Council was not proposing amendments, so no action was necessary. 6. Discuss and act on RESOLUTION NO. 2019-032: A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PARIS, TEXAS AUTHORIZING REPRESENTATION IN AN IRS MATTER AND DELEGATING AUTHORITY TO EXECUTE FORM 2848 IRS POWER OF ATTORNEY; MAKING OTHER FINDINGS AND PROVISIONS RELATED TO THE SUBJECT; AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE. Mr. Anderson explained that the City of Paris, along with numerous other cities worked through TML to file IRS forms 1094-C and 1095-C. He said TML outsourced to a third parry and these forms were not timely filed with the IRS in 2016 and 2017. Mr. Anderson also said TML had engaged a law firm to represent TML and the affected parties. Mayor Clifford wanted to know who was going to assume the responsibility and Mr. Anderson said TML was going to assume responsibility. `A Motion to approve this item was made by Mayor Clifford and seconded by Council Member Portugal. Motion carried, 5 ayes — 0 nays. 7. Adjournment. z There being no further business, a Motion to adjourn was made by Mayor Clifford and was seconded by Council Member Portugal. Motion carried, 5 ayes — 0 nays. The meeting was adjourned at 6:28 p.m. STEVEN J. CLIFFORD, MAYOR JANICE ELLIS, CITY CLERK MINUTES OF THE REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF THE CITY OF PARIS, TEXAS September 9, 2019 The City Council of the City of Paris met for a regular session at 5:30 p.m. on Monday, September 9, 2019, at the City Council Chamber, 107 E. Kaufman, Paris, Texas. Present: Mayor: Steve Clifford Council Members: Billy Trenado; Linda Knox; Paula Portugal; and Clayton Pilgrim City Staff: Gene Anderson, Interim City Manager/Finance Director; Stephanie Harris, City Attorney; Janice Ellis, City Clerk; Bob Hundley, Police Chief; Mike Vogel:; Fire Chief; Kent Klinkerman EMS Director; Jerry McDaniel, Public Works Director., Carla Easton,, City Engineer; Priscilla McAnally, Library Director; Randy Tuttle, Assistant Police Chief; Tom Hunt, Municipal Judge; and Clyde Crews, Fire Marshal ' Absent: Council Members: Derrick Hughes and Renae Stone 1, �- O penin A enda 1. Call meeting to order. Mayor Clifford called the meeting to order at 5:30 p.m. 2. Invocation. Gene Anderson gave the invocation. 3. Pledge of Allegiance. Council Member Portugal led the pledge. 4. Citizens' forum. Deanna Nicholson, 6940 Pine Mill Road, Paris, Texas — she spoke in support of item 10, citing the reasons this type of program was being requested by local business owners. She said she had provided a signed copy of the petition to Council and to Chief Hundley. Mayor Clifford said he would allow her to speak again when they reached item 10. Regular Council Meeting September 9, 2019 Page 2 Consent Agenda Mayor Clifford inquired of Council Members if they wished to pull any items from the consent agenda for discussion. There being none, a Motion to approve the consent agenda was made by Council Member Pilgrim, and seconded by Council Member Portugal. Motion carried, 5 ayes — 0 nays. 5. Approve minutes from the meetings of August 19 and August 26, 2019. 6. Receive reports and/or minutes from the following boards and commissions: a. Paris Public Library Advisory Board (7-17-2019) Re ular A enda 7. Discuss, conduct! a public hearing and act on an Ordinance ,regarding the petition of James O'Bryan for a change in zoning from a Single -Family Dwelling District (SF2) to Neighborhood Service (NS) in the Mayer Addition, Block 3, Lot 27, located at 3150 Bonham Street and iO N.W. 32"d Street. Mayor Clifford said in order, for this item to be approved,it required a super majority of the Council and the entire Council was not in attendance. Mayor"Clifford opened the public hearing and continued it to September 23. 8. Conduct the second public bearing on the City's proposed tax rate for 2019-2020, discuss and provide direction to staff Interim City Manager Gene Anderson said he had been working on reducing the budget expenditures as requested by City Council, and was going to be able to get it accomplished. He said he should have something to Council at their next meeting. Mayor Clifford opened the public hearing and asked for anyone wishing to speak about this item, to please come forward. With no one speaking, Mayor Clifford closed the public hearing. 9. Receive an annual update on the Grand Theatre Project. Grand Theatre Project President Julia Trigg Crawford gave a presentation to City Council regarding the board, website, fundraisers and challenges. Ms. Crawford said they were creating interest and enthusiasm. Council Member Portugal read an article from the Dallas Morning News about the Texas Theatre in Greenville, Texas, dated September 8, 2019, written by Ronnie Nutt from Paris. She said she hoped to see an article similar about the Grand Theatre in the future. 10. Discuss and provide direction on a request for creation of a safe zone at local hotel and apartment housing in the City of Paris. Regular Council Meeting September 9, 2019 Page 3 Mayor Clifford asked Ms. Nicholson to continue where she left off during the citizen's forum. Ms. Nicholson said there had been a large drug bust recently at the American Best Value. She said the fire, police and EMS were routinely at this facility. Ms. Nicholson also said she had provided Council with information about this type program having a lot of success nationwide, as referenced by police, sheriff s offices and property owners. She said when identification and credit cards were not used and patrons could pay cash, is when they had problems with drug use and selling of drugs. Chief Hundley gave statistics of calls received about activity at various local hotels, motels, and extended stay facilities. He said if they moved forward with an ordinance, it was important to educate the businesses and conduct training. Chief Hundley said the City did not have enough staff to enforce an ordinance like Grand Prairie. Council Member Portugal said some of the items were not needed; specifically she referred to inspection of linens and mattresses. Council Member Pilgrim said repeat offenders should definitely be dealt with. a Mayor Clifford said he had no problems about the definitions of lighting, thickness` of doors but it could get expensive if all units had to' be inspected. He also said having this type of program in place might give owners an incentive to=keep the crime down. Chief Hundley said this ordinance as :written was not for Paris. Mayor Clifford inquired of Chief Hundley as what parts he agreed with and what parts he did not.. o Chief Hundley said he liked the threshold set out in the ordinance with regard to the ratio of calls, specifically the different tiers. He said some hotels hardly had'any calls, while others had a lot. Council Member Knox said she would" eventually: Eike to see it expanded to apartment complexes. Ms. Harris suggested they start with hotels , and motels. Following additional discussion,. it was a consensus of City Council that staff bring back an ordinance for discussion. 11. Discuss the status of the private sale of the Belford Apartments and possible action regarding placing it back up for the sheriff s auction, perhaps at a lower amount. Council Member Knox said they had this property up for sale and nobody bid on it. She also said it was her understanding there was a private individual who contacted the owner and was supposedly buying it, but that was not reflected through the Lamar County Appraisal District. Council Member Knox said the place was a mess, had become more overgrown, the boards that were up to stabilize the building had been busted and doors were wide open. Council Member Knox asked the Council if there was something they could do about this. Mayor Clifford said one or two things needed to happen, and that was either it needed to be stabilized and repaired, or torn down. He said it had been dragging on for decades. Council Member Pilgrim inquired about the cost of demolition. City Attorney Stephanie Harris said she had heard it was anywhere from $250,000 to $400,000 to demolish it. Ms. Harris also said the sticking point for the buyer was all civil penalties and the judgment lien be released at closing, and that did not give the City any leverage to get done what needed to get done to that property. Ms. Harris referenced the resolution passed by City Council in March whereby penalties and the judgment would be released only upon demolition or rehabilitation of the property. Mayor Clifford inquired if the new owner could be legally required to put money in escrow to cover Regular Council Meeting September 9, 2019 Page 4 cost of demolition, with the caveat that it be done by a certain time. Ms. Harris said legally that could be done, but in all probability that was not going to happen. Following additional discussion, it was a consensus of the City Council to lower the minimum bid to $20,000 and place it back up for the sheriff's auction, with the stipulations required by the resolution adopted in March by City Council. Council Member Pilgrim said if this property does not sell at the auction, he wants this item back on the agenda. Due to public notice requirements, Ms. Harris said it might be November before it goes to auction. 12. Discuss and act on re -appointment of Judge Hunt to serve as Municipal Court Judge and Judge Biard to serve as Associate Municipal Court Judge. Council Member Portugal said Council had given Judge Hunt an evaluation in May and they were to review changes made with regard to code enforcement. She inquired what Council wanted to do. Council Member Pilgrim said he was fine with the re -appointments. 'A Motion to re -appoint Judge Hunt to serve as Municipal Court Judge and Judge' Biard to serve as Associate Municipal Court Judge was made by Council Member Pilgrim, and' seconded by Mayor Cliffdrd. Motion carried, 5 ayes — 0 rays. a' a _ 13.' Discuss and act on ORDINANCE NO. 2019-027: AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PARIS, TEXAS, APPROVING A NEGOTIATED SETTLEMENT BETWEEN THE i ATMOS CITIES STEERING CO IVIIVIITTEE ("ACSC") AND ATMOS ENERGY CORP., MID-TEX DIVISION REGARDING THE COMPANY'S 2019 RATE REVIEW MECHANISM FILING; DECLARING EXISTING RATES TO BE UNREASONABLE; ADOPTING TARIFFS THAT REFLECT RATE ADJUSTMENTS CONSISTENT WITH THE NEGOTIATED SETTLEMENT; FINDING THE, ,RATES TO BE" SET BY THE SETTLEMENT TARIFFS TO BE JUST AND REASONABLE AND IN THE PUBLIC INTEREST; APPROVING AN EXHIBIT ESTABLISHING A BENCHMARK FOR PENSIONS AND RETIREE MEDICAL BENEFITS; APPROVING AN ATTACHED EXHIBIT REGARDING AMORTIZATION OF REGULATORY LIABILITY; REQUIRING THE COMPANY TO REIMBURSE ACSC'S REASONABLE RATEMAKING EXPENSES; DETERMINING THAT THIS ORDINANCE WAS PASSED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE REQUIREMENTS OF THE TEXAS OPEN MEETINGS ACT; ADOPTING A SAVINGS CLAUSE; DECLARING AN EFFECTIVE DATE; AND REQUIRING DELIVERY OF THIS ORDINANCE TO THE COMPANY AND THE ACSC'S LEGAL COUNSEL. Mr. Anderson explained that on April 1 Atmos made a filing requesting for 39.3 million dollars in additional revenues from its Atmos Cities Steering Committee customers. He said that negotiations between Atmos and ACSC resulted in a 3.9 million dollar reduction of requested revenues from ACSC customers. Mr. Anderson also said the typical residential customer would see a $2.05 monthly bill increase, and typical commercial customers would see a monthly increase of $6.18. He said the effective date of the increase was October 1, 2019. Regular Council Meeting September 9, 2019 Page 5 A Motion to approve this item was made Mayor Clifford and seconded by Council Member Portugal. Motion carried, 5 ayes — 0 nays. 14. Discuss and act on ORDINANCE NO. 2019-028: AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PARIS, TEXAS, AUTHORIZING THE ISSUANCE OF A SOLID WASTE COLLECTION PERMIT TO SANITATION SOLUTIONS, INC., FOR THE PURPOSE OF ENGAGING IN THE BUSINESS OF COLLECTING AND/OR TRANSPORTING SOLID WASTE FROM COMMERCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL UNITS WITHIN THE CITY LIMITS OF THE CITY OF PARIS, TEXAS; FINDING A PUBLIC NECESSITY AND CONVENIENCE FOR ISSUANCE OF SAID PERMIT; MAKING OTHER FINDINGS AND PROVISIONS RELATED OT THE SUBJECT; AND DECLARING AN EFFECTIVE DATE. City Clerk Janice Ellis said items 14, 15 and 16 were three returning solid waste haulers, that all of their fees were paid and insurance certificates had been received. She recommended approval of permits to the three companies. A Motion to approve this item was made by Council Member Pilgrim and seconded by Council Member Knox. Motion carried, 5 ayes — 0 nays. ' TJ 15. Discuss and act on ORDINANCE NO. 2019-029: AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THECITY OF PARIS, TEXAS, AUTHORIZING THE ISSUANCE OF A SOLID WASTE,.COLLECTION PERMIT TO COUNTY WASTE COLLECTION, LLC D/B/A TRASHY BUSINESS FOR THE PURPOSE OF ENGAGING IN THE BUSINESS OF COLLECTING AND/OR TRANSPORTING SOLID WASTE FROM COMMERCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL UNITS WITHIN THE CITY LIMITS OF THE CITY OF PARIS, TEXAS; FINDING A PUBLIC NECESSITY AND CONVENIENCE FOR ISSUANCE OF SAID PERMIT; MAKING OTHER FINDINGS AND PROVISIONS RELATED OT THE SUBJECT; AND DECLARING AN EFFECTIVE DATE. A Motion to approve this item was made by Mayor Clifford and seconded by Council Member Pilgrim. Motion carried, 5 ayes — 0 nays. 16. Discuss and act on ORDINANCE NO. 2019-030: AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PARIS, TEXAS, AUTHORIZING THE ISSUANCE OF A SOLID WASTE COLLECTION PERMIT TO RAYMOND C. TABOR D/B/A WASTE CONNECTION OF NORTHEAST TEXAS, FOR THE PURPOSE OF ENGAGING IN THE BUSINESS OF COLLECTING AND/OR TRANSPORTING SOLID WASTE FROM COMMERCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL UNITS WITHIN THE CITY LIMITS OF THE CITY OF PARIS, TEXAS; FINDING A PUBLIC NECESSITY AND CONVENIENCE FOR ISSUANCE OF SAID PERMIT; MAKING OTHER FINDINGS AND PROVISIONS RELATED TO THE SUBJECT; AND DECLARING AN EFFECTIVE DATE. Regular Council Meeting September 9, 2019 Page 6 A Motion to approve this item was made by Council Member Trenado and seconded by Council Member Knox. Motion carried, 5 ayes — 0 nays. 17. Consider and approve future events for City Council and/or City Staff pursuant to Resolution No. 2004-081. Mayor Clifford asked City Council to be thinking about what kind of criteria they wanted for a city manager. 18. Adjournment. There being no further business, a Motion to adjourn was made by Council Member Pilgrim and was seconded by Council Member Portugal. Motion carried, 5 ayes — 0 nays. The meeting was adjourned at 6:24 p.m. i STEVEN. CLIFFORD, M.D., MAYOR 1. JANICE ELLIS, .. .CITY CLERK.... MINUTES OF THE SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF THE CITY OF PARIS, TEXAS September 16, 2019 The City Council of the City of Paris met for a special session at 5:30 p.m. on Monday, September 16, 2019, at the City Council Chamber, 107 E. Kaufinan, Paris, Texas. Present: Mayor: Council Members: City Staff: Absent: Council Members: Call meeting to order. Steve Clifford Renae Stone; Linda Knox; and Paula Portugal Gene Anderson, Interim City Manager/Finance Director; Stephanie Harris, City Attorney; Janice Ellis, City Clerk; Bob Hundley, Police Chief; Mike Vogel, Fire Chief; Kent Klinkerman, EMS Director; Doug - Harris, Utilities Director; ;JerryMcDaniel, Public ' 'Works Director, Carla , Easton, City Engineer;, Randy Tuttle, Assistant Police Chief; and Clyde Crews, Fire Marshal Derrick Hughes, Billy Trenado and Clayton Pilgrim Mayor Clifford called the meeting to order at 5;3,0 p.m. 2. Citizens' forum. No one spoke during citizens' forum: 3. Discuss and act on ORDINANCE NO. 2019-031: AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PARIS, TEXAS, ADOPTING A BUDGET FOR THE ENSUING FISCAL PERIOD BEGINNING OCTOBER 1, 2019, AND ENDING SEPTEMBER 30, 2020, IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CHARTER OF THE CITY OF PARIS; APPROPRIATING THE VARIOUS AMOUNTS THEREOF; MAKING OTHER FINDINGS AND PROVISIONS RELATED TO THE SUBJECT; PROVIDING A REPEALER CLAUSE, A SEVERABILITY CLAUSE, A SAVINGS CLAUSE; AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE. Interim City Manager Gene Anderson said the City Council had asked him at the last meeting to go back and try to produce a revenue neutral budget, and he had done that by reducing $568,338 from expenditures. He said the Council could adopt the effective tax rate and fund this budget with the reductions. Mr. Anderson explained State Law defined the effective tax rate as bringing in the same amount of money in ad valorem taxes as the year before, based on the same property. Mr. Anderson also said they were at the point in the budget process that an item could not be increased because another public hearing would have to be called and a ten- City Council Special Meeting September 16, 2019 Page 2 day notice was required. Mr. Anderson said the ordinance in their packet reflected the reduced budget. After their last Council meeting, Mayor Clifford said he was hopeful that for once they would not raise taxes this year. He said by adopting this reduced budget, they were keeping taxes the same, even though the rate was going down. He said Council Member Portugal brought up the possibility of bumping up the tax rate one or two pennies and tagging it for downtown development. Mayor Clifford said after speaking with Mr. Anderson, that it was his understanding that the City had well over ten million dollars in reserve funds. He also said reserve funds should not be spent here and there, but a one-time expense was different. He said it was also his understanding that 8 million dollars needed to be in reserves. Mayor Clifford said they did not know how much downtown was going to cost but he understood it would take about $500,000 more to complete the first phase. Mayor Clifford said he would prefer to pass the reduced budget with effective tax rate, with the notion they could approve funding for some of the downtown from reserves. Council Member Knox said one of the cuts was a new special telephone system for the police department, and she would like to see E the phone system purchased. Mr. Anderson.said'the technology was aging and at some point, it would have to replaced, and it would cost about $120,000. Council Member Knox said it seemed to becoming more affordable and questioned if ithere was something they could do to move forward with purchasing it. She also'said they -knew downtown was going to cost a lot; they planned for it and budgeted for it. Council-Meinbet Knox said she was for downtown development but was opposed to raising taxes to- downtown. Council Member Knox said if they were going to dip into reserves that she would like to get telephone equipment for the police department. Mayor Clifford deferred'to Mr. Anderson. Mr. Anderson said as long as a little more than 8 ;. million dollars remained, in reserves, that is something they could. do. Mayor Clifford asked Council their thoughts about using reserves to purchase telephone equipment for the police department. Council Member Portugal said it was a good move to lower taxes, and that she thought the police department should have the technical equipment needed to do their jobs. Council Member Stone agreed. Mayor Clifford inquired if a separate vote would be required to authorize the purchase of telephone equipment out of reserves. Mr. Anderson said it would. He also said they had talked about doing a workshop in October and it could be done at that time. A Motion to approve the budget as presented by Mr. Anderson was made by Council Member Portugal and seconded by Council Member Knox. Motion carried, 4 ayes — 0 nays. 4. Discuss and ratify the property tax increase reflected in the budget as required by Local Government Code Section 102.007(c). Mayor Clifford said this item was moot, because the City Council did not raise property taxes. 5. Discuss and act on ORDINANCE NO. 2019-032: AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PARIS, TEXAS, FIXING THE TAX RATE AND THE TAX LEVY AND LEVYING AD VALOREM TAXES FOR THE CITY OF PARIS FOR THE CALENDAR YEAR 2019 UPON ALL TAXABLE PROPERTY WITHIN THE CITY OF PARIS IN CONFORMITY WITH THE CHARTER PROVISIONS AND City Council Special Meeting September 16, 2019 Page 3 ORDINANCES OF THE CITY; MAKING OTHER FINDINGS AND PROVISIONS RELATED TO THE SUBJECT; REPEALING ALL ORDINANCES OR PARTS OF ORDINANCES IN CONFLICT HEREWITH; PROVIDING A SAVINGS CLAUSE; PROVIDING A SEVERABILITY CLAUSE; AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE. Mr. Anderson said the tax rate Council would be adopting was the effective tax rate of .51608. 6. Adjournment. There being no further business, Mayor Clifford adjourned the meeting at 5:40 p.m. STEVEN J. CLIFFORD, MAYOR'S ........ .... . _........... . JANICE ELLIS, CITY CLERK