19 - Memo to GB - Proposed FY24-25 Budget - July 2024 (002)
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Memorandum
____________________________________________________________________________
TO:Mayor, Mayor Pro Tem, City Council
FROM:Rob Vine, Interim City Manager
Gene Anderson, Finance Director
SUBJECT:Proposed Fiscal Year 2024/2025BudgetExecutive Summary
DATE:August 7,2024
Introduction
It is with pleasure that wepresent to you the City Manager’s Proposed Fiscal Year 2024/2025(“FY24/25”)Budget.
Many hoursby many individualshave gone into its preparation.Through careful review, editing, and discussion, we
have developed a great finalproduct to present to you.
This memorandum has been structured to address Article V inthe City of Paris Charter.The duty and responsibility
of a public servant is to carry out the Codeof the Cityto the best of his/her ability,therefore,to provide greater
transparency to those reviewing this memorandumfor completeness to the code, wewill divide upthis memorandum
to address each specific applicable section of that article.This has the unintended consequence of breaking up a desired
“flow”, sometimes making this memorandum bulky, but nevertheless itfulfills ourobligation in providing you
thorough information regarding the budget.
Wewill be making a presentation, summarizing this memorandum, to the City Council on August 12, 2024. At that
time, we will also touch on upcoming deadlines pursuant to the City Charter and Senate Bill 2.Wewill also ask how
you, as a Council, would like to proceed to review, discuss, consider, etc. the Proposed FY24/25Budget including
any workshops, research, additional information, etc. you would like to hold.Please be considering this in preparation
for the August 12thdiscussion.
The reader of this report mayfind the material presented here to be complex.This is unavoidable asthe City Charter
is clear as to what must be includedin this report.Municipal budgets are indeed complex, for a reason.There aretwo
different schools of thoughtwhen it comes to the content of a budget.Some prefer to see budgets broken out as much
as possible with many itemized line items minutely separating out expenses, while others prefer fewer line items
representing generalized categories of expenses. The version you have before you in this memorandum falls closer to
the first school of thought –many funds with many line items, thus breaking out the entire budget intomore definable
individual purposes.This of course produces a lengthy budget to go throughand review,butitis amore transparent
approachfor our public and it assists departments with better tracking their budgetary status as the year progresses.A
very condensed and summarized budget where line items are lumped together, while extremely easy for staff to
processand councils to flip through, is also much less transparentas the purpose of each line item is obscure, turning
them more in to larger “miscellaneous” line items, and it can also cause departments to lose track of their budgetary
status unless they keep their own notes on the side as to what has or will still yet occur by way of known and unforeseen
expenses.It is our recommendation that wecontinue with our current format.
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Ifat any time the reader of this memorandum has any questions, please contact the City Manager’s office at City Hall.
We will be more than happy to answer any questions you have.
Summary
Prior to getting started with the substance of this memorandum, wewould like to present to you a few initial summary
results regarding the Property Tax Levy and Rate, as well as the balancing of the Operational Funds.
Of greatest interest to most any Council Member and citizen is the impact of the proposed budget to the Property Tax
Rate and Levy.The City has a Maintenance and Operation(M & O) property tax rate and a Debt Service (sometimes
also referred to as “Interest and Sinking” or “I&S”) property tax rate.These rates, once applied against the property
valuation, produce the tax levy (the dollars the City receives).The M & Orate is subject to Senate Bill 2 (2019)growth
restrictions year to year while the Debt Service rate is not; both will be discussed in further detail later in this
memorandum.The Proposed FY24/25Budget assumes an M&O rate of $0.30373 which is the voter-approval M&O
rate. This rate is only $0.01027 higherthan the No New Revenue rate of $0.29346 and gives the City $254,500 in
additional revenue. The City has held its O&M taxes at the same amount ($8,030,000) for the last three years, With
the current inflationary pressures, the City cannot continue to operate at that level of income. The Debt Service levy
isproposed to decreasedue to the SuRRMA Loan being paid in full this year(23/24).Inthe proposed FY24/25budget
the total combined property tax rate between M & Oand Debt Service is decreasingby 2.581 cents.Changes in
property valuations through the Lamar County Appraisal District impact the final rate associated with our budgeted
levy amounts.The following lists theFY21/22, FY22/23, FY23/24and the ProposedFY24/25tax rates:
YearM&ODebtTotal
FY21/22$0.37357$0.08016$0.45373
FY22/23$0.34377$0.09901$0.44278
FY23/24$0.32176$0.15606$0.47782
FY24/25$0.30373$0.14828$0.45201Preliminary
The following represents a comparison of these tax rates against that of the Proposed FY24/25tax rate:
FY24/25FundFY21/22FY22/23FY23/24
$0.30373M & O($0.06984)($0.04176)($0.01803)
$0.14828Debt$0.06812$0.04927($0.00778)
$0.45201Total($0.00172)$0.00923($0.02581)
The Proposed FY24/25Tax Rateis, to the best of our determination using the Comptroller’s Forms, infull compliance
with Senate Bill 2, also known as the Texas Property Tax Reform and Transparency Act of 2019, approved by the
Texas Legislature in 2019.Among other things, this Act is designed to restrict the City’s ability to raise property taxes.
This is a double-edgedsword.Wewill provide more details regarding this Actlater in this memorandum, nevertheless,
given the restrictions this Actplaces upon municipalities, it is strongly recommended that the City of Paris utilize the
allowed restricted growth passed by the State Legislature when needed to keep up with the vital services we offer the
citizens.To fall behind under this legislation could eventually prove irreversible thus detrimental to the desired
operations and services the citizens expect of the City.The key point in ourabove statement however is “when
needed”.In FY22/23,the City did not use its full 3.5% growth due to better-than-expected Sales Tax revenue.Instead,
we left $0.00681 available to be utilized if ever needed in the next three years (SB-2 allows it to remain available for
up to three years before disappearing forever).In addition, we have balanced our budget using the 97%value of the
total estimated property taxes to be received under the M & O property tax rate. Historically, the City never receives
100% of the property tax levied, a table is shown later in this memorandumillustrating this, thus why foreclosures
occur from time to time, but rather we typically hover around 97%. Therefore, it is logical to utilize a more realistic
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97% figure when balancing the budget rather than a 100% figure knowing it will produce a large revenue deficit by
the end of the fiscal year. The $8,030,000.00 in the Proposed FY24/25Budget represents this 97% value.This has
been the practice for several years.
As inFY23/24, FY24/25 valuations from Lamar County Appraisal Districtcontained properties whose values were
th
still under protest.This year, as of July 25, there are still 249properties undergoing protest with LCAD.These
protestsimpact our growth calculationsfor FY24/25. The figures we have used for taxable value are the most
conservative available to us by LCAD.
The next key element typically of interest would be the balancing of the Operational Funds.The City of Paris has
numerous Funds, the vast majority of which are Special Purpose Funds which will be discussed later in this
memorandum.The Operational Funds are Fund 01 –General Fund,03–AirportFund,and 10–Water and Sewer
Fund. In FY24/25, Fund45 –Sanitation and LandfillFund, will no longer be an operating fund as the City has
outsourced its solid waste service and moved the remaining expenses to Department 44 of Fund 01.These threefunds
make up the vast majority of the financial accountingand are what the City operates out of to perform its daily tasks.
In addition, these threefunds are unique from other special purpose funds in that they are supported primarily from
taxes, fines, fees, and utility rates, thus the importance to balance them.Each year, city staff carefully examinesthe
historical trends behind each line item to focus the budget while capturing and repurposing available funds for
efficiency and to become even more effective in the duties we are tasked with performingto maintain services, all
while keeping the property tax rate as lowas possible.The following table shows the balancing of each of our operating
funds:
FundRevenueExpenditureNet
01–General Fund$32,806,500.00$34,182,500.00($1,376,000.00)
01–General Fund Reserve$1,376,000.00$0.00$1,376,000.00
Net$34,182,500.00$34,182,500.00$0.00
03–Airport Fund$984,681.00$1,060,407.00($75,726.00)
01–General Fund Transfer$75,726.00$0.00$75,726.00
Net$1,060,407.00$1,060,407.00$0.00
10–Water and Sewer Fund$22,037,204.00$22,037,204.00$0.00
The Proposed FY24/25Budget has all threeof the above Operational Funds balanced.To accomplish this, given our
General Fund Reserve is healthy with some available surplus–primarily through better-than-expectedSales Tax and
Interest payment receipts,wehave budgeted to access a portion of this surplusto help cover several needed equipment
and/or one-time significant purchases so that we can meetour goal of a flat property tax levy this yearin the M & O.
Wewent back to FY22/23(the last completed FY) and determined how much revenue above budget and how much
expenditure below budget we had, net the two amounts, and determined this balance.This, in essence, is the amount
that was forwarded to the reserve at the close of the FY22/23.It is always our goal to come in over revenue and under
expense –this gives us the needed room to operate while allowingus to maintain a healthy reserve for unique situations
andto further our services to the citizens via several important capital purchases that must occur. This use of the
surplus puts the citizens’ tax money to work benefiting them, while still maintaining a healthy reserve.In addition,
given restrictions under SB-2 as discussed above, use of surplus funds is also the only means of purchasing some
capital items outside of ARPA and CARES (which are nearly gone).
The use of surplus funding to help balance an operational budget must be done with great care. The City is not a finite
entity; instead,it will continue to exist and therefore will have routine expenses year after year (ex: payroll, insurance,
chemicals, fuel, etc.). These repeating expenses must be supported year after year with dedicated annual revenue
streams, in other words, revenue that is reliably raised and available each year.To use surplus money in this instance
would be inappropriate because it is a finite source of money and would eventually end. Should a repeating expenditure
be supported by a finite revenue stream, a time would come when the neededrevenue would not be available to
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continue that service. Therefore, the City of Paris does not support any of its routine expenditures with surplus funds.
On the other end of the spectrum, we have one-time sizable expenses that are not routine year after year (ex: certain
equipment, studies, etc.). We commonly refer to these as capital purchases(note: our annual ambulance and police
car replacement programs are both capital purchases butare routinely done each year and therefore excluded from
consideration of surplus funds).While we routinely have capital purchases each year, the purpose, number, size,
amount, dollar requirement, etc. is quite dynamic and difficult to predict. When surplus funds are not available,
reoccurringand/or new revenue must be reallocated and/or raisedto fund non-reoccurringcapital purchases. This is
not always possible,and the City must make difficult decisions on what services it will be able to provide year after
year. However, when surplus funds are available and assuming the reserve is healthy without the addition of these
surplus funds, then opportunities to expand our reach within our capital purchase list become possible. This will not
always be the case for the City of Paris, but as with last year, this opportunity is available to us this year.
The City of Paris had an approximate amount in excess of $3 million in surplusrevenue upon the close of FY22/23.
This is predominately because of excellent sales tax and interest receipts beyond what was budgeted in the balancing
of the FY22/23budget. To be in excess by this much is indeed rare and cannot be expected each year. However, it
presentsus with an opportunity to pursue some significant one-time capital expenses not normally possible. So long
as a healthy reserve exists, citizens would prefer to see their tax dollars beyond minimum reserve amounts usedrather
than stored away.
The Airport Fund (Fund 03) does not have any reserve. In fact, the General Fund will transfer a set amount to help
subsidize the Airport Fund in FY24/25. The Water and Sewer Fund (Fund 10) doesnot have excess reserve available
for capital purchases, therefore all expenses within thisfund are supported with reoccurring revenue streams raised in
FY24/25.Due to scheduled changes in debt payments, the FY24/25 budget shows the possibility of improving the
Water and Sewer Fund reserve.
In addition to the operating funds, the City still has some remaining ARPA (Fund 04) and CARES (Fund 05) funding.
Through our past efforts, we have de-obligated this funding under the lost revenue category authorized by the Federal
government, thus openingit up to other purposes as needed. It is our understanding that this funding has an expiration
date upcoming, but we plan to have it spent before these deadlines hit. The items supported with this funding will be
shown later in this memorandumand have been selectedprimarilybased on their long-termimpactonour operations
and service to the communityas well as our ability to spend the funds prior to the deadlines.
One final helpful key, the City’s accounting system is structured based on account numbers.We utilize consistent
numbering for each of the departments, but it firsttakes some trainingto learn how to read the system.The following
is an example of atypical account number: “01-0101-12-00”.To assist you in reading this, please take the following
example:
AA-BBBBB-CC-DDD
“AA” =Fund Number
Example: General Fund, Water and Sewer Fund, etc.
“BBBBB”=Line Item
Example: Salaries and Wages, Office Supplies, Communications, Buildings and
Grounds, etc.; these are consistent throughout all departments.So “0101” in all
Departments is “Salaries and Wages”.
“CC”=Department Number
Example: City Council, Police, Fire, Library, Water Production, etc.
“DDD”=Sub-Department Number and/or Special Sub-Accounts
Example: Pool (Sub-Department of Parks), Capital Purchase Accountssuch as a
Vehicle or Heavy Equipment, etc.
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If at any time you have questions regarding the Accounting Structure, please let us know.
City of Paris Charter
Pursuant to the City of Paris Charter, Section 19(3), the City Council has the power and duty to:
Section 19(3) –“Adopt the budget of the city.”
To accomplish this, the City Manager has the power and duty under Section 38(2) to:
Section 38(2) –“Prepare the budget and submit it to the council and be responsible for itsadministration
after adoption.”
Article V, entitled “The Budget”, sections 42 –58of the City of Paris Charter further spell out the composition,
transparency, publication, and other key components of the budget and budget process.This memorandum is therefore
designed to fulfill, to the best myability, Article V.The remainder of this memorandum will be structured off ofthe
requirements of Sections 42–45, in order.Other sections not addressed are primarily procedural matters.Pursuant to
Section 46, this budget and all supporting schedules will be filed with the City Clerk when submitted to theCity
Counciland shall be a public record for the inspection of anyone.
City of Paris Charter –Article V –Section 42.
“The fiscal year of the City of Paris shall begin on the first day of October and shall end on the last day of
September of each calendar year.Such fiscal year shall also constitute the budget and accounting year.”
The Proposed Budget is for the Fiscal Year beginning October 1, 2024,and ending on September 30, 2025.This will
be shown throughout this document as “FY24/25”.
City of Paris Charter –Article V –Section 43.
“The City Manager, between thirty and ninety days prior to the beginning of each fiscal year, shall submit
to the Council a proposed budget, which budget shall provide a complete financial plan for the fiscal year,
and shall contain the following:”
The following sections of this memorandum shall be divided up between the fifteen(15) sub-sections of Section 43.
These sub-sections are designed to represent the “complete financial plan for the fiscal year”.
City of Paris Charter –Article V –Section 43(1)
“A budget message, explanatory of the budget, which message shall contain an outline of the proposed
financial policies of the city for the fiscal year, shall set forth the reasons for salient changes from the
previous fiscal year in expenditure and revenue items, and shall explain any major changes in financial
policy.”
Financial Policy
Our Financial Policy is as follows:
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The mission of the City of Paris is to serve with professionalism and integrity, promote a safe and prosperous
community for all citizens, and provide efficient and effective services for an excellent quality of life.
Budget Message
Toaccomplish the Financial Policy stated above, wehave carefully considered the priorities for the Proposed FY24/25
Budget.While there are many important tasks, projects, and programs that can be singled out for discussion, the
following is a breakdown of the most notable priorities pursued due to the level of impact they had to the overall
budget.
1.Police Department Pay Increases –On May 13, 2024, the City Council directed that increasing the pay plan
for our sworn officers be the number one priority for the FY24/25 budget. The City has five ranks of sworn
officers below the Chief of Police:those being Police Officer, Sergeant, Lieutenant, Captain and Assistant
Chief.Each of these have seniority levels between Year 0 (first year in rank) to Year 14.While we have
successfully maintained staffing levels in the upper four ranks, we continue to be down a significant number
in our Police Officer rank which directly impacts our service to the community. The Police Department is
governed under Chapter 143 of the Texas Local Government Code, otherwise known as Civil Service. While
over the past four years,the City has made great strides in improving its overall compensation package for
the Police Department, further measures need to be taken to attract and retain officers, particularly in light of
our local competition via the County Sheriff Office and four Independent School Districts (ISDs). Our local
competition has likewise taken measures to improve their compensation package over the recent years; this
in combination with a completely different workloadrequirement, places the City of Paris in a tough spot to
rebuild our numbers.We have also seen our greatest vulnerability for losing officers occurs within the first
6 years as our local competition is more competitive in this price range than against our higher seniority
levels and ranks.Having addressed sign-on bonuses, improved certification pay, lateral pay consideration,
and more, the City Council has determined that further measures regarding base pay need to be taken.
While limitations due to SB2 and maintaining other departmental operations are a factor, we have drafted a
proposed FY24/25 budget that will increase the starting pay of Police Officers from $56,000.00 to
$66,000.00. Likewise, toprevent compression among the ranks, while still being mindful of our financial
constraints throughout the General Fund, we have implemented increases through all the ranks, but at a de-
escalating sliding scale. In short, the Police Officer Year 0 will see a roughly 18% increase(before OT), the
Assistant Chief Year 14 will see a roughly 2% increase, with every other rank and seniority level in between
deescalating from bottom to top.
To financially accomplish our goals with the Police pay, we have once again unbudgeted mostof the
remaining vacant police positions, which is similar to the practice we have done each of the past fouryears
in order to accomplish our budgetary goals. However, we will continue to seek out and hire new officers as
quickly as possible to fillup the entire vacancy list until we are fully staffed. Given historically we have been
unsuccessful in filling these vacant positions, to continually budget for them while trying to maintain a
balanced –and tight –budget with pay adjustments for our employees, has become challenging. Therefore,
in order to offer the pay increases we have proposed to the police department, we are going to take advantage
of this available budget room within the vacant positions to increase our pay for existing police positions
(retain), which we hope will further draw more applicants (attract and hire). Should we successfully hire
more officers, we will simply have to amend our budget and account for it in FY25/26and beyond, which is
the ultimate intended conclusion –to be at full staff. Given the hiring process takes many months, the
financial risk to the City in FY24/25seems relatively low. This is a departure from our typical methodology
of keeping several vacant positions budgeted, however, we need this funding to implement yet another
financial strategy to attract and retain officers to begin filling these vacant positions as soon as possible. It
must be noted that the un-budgeting of vacant officer positions was done strictly to offset the above stated
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plan to increase our police department’s pay, and not to assist with any other position’s pay or municipal
service expense.In fact, the proposed changes in police pay required many more resources on top of what
was available by un-budgeting vacant positions.
2.City Council Strategic Plan –On January 9, 2023, the City Council approved a new Strategic Plan via
Resolution 2023-002.This was updated for the FY23/24 Budget in September 2023.This Strategic Plan is
made up of a Vision, Mission Statement and Goals for the City of Paris. It is intended to guide the City in
the development and implementation of its fiscal budget for the next ten years, with the flexibility of knowing
that future City Councils will review and amend as needed to keep this plan relevant and effective.The above
stated Financial Policy is based directly on the mission statement in the Strategic Plan and the following
narrative explains how the City Council’s Goals from the plan are represented within the Proposed FY24/25
Budget.
The City Council has prioritized five (5) primary goals, rooted in the Strategic Plan’s Vision and Mission
Statement. These are intended to be long term goals that will be relevant in the immediate and future fiscal
years. From these goals, and as funding is available, action items will be established each fiscal year through
the budgeting process. The following are the five goals with action items identified in the Proposed FY24/25
Budget:
1.)Enhance the City’s relationship with key State and County Representatives.
2.)Encourage Economic Development through business development and retention planning.
3.)Promote long-term growth in the community.
4.)Retain our citizens.
5.)Market the City.
Pursuant to the Strategic Plan, a report will be given to the City Council during the fiscal year budgeting
process as to the status of the FY23/24Strategic Plan Action Items. That report has been created and is
attached as Exhibit G.
The Proposed FY24/25Strategic Plan Action Items has been created and is attached as Exhibit H. These
action items are made up of those with budgetary notes as well as those that are administrative in nature (not
a defined budgetary note). It also includes several carryoversfrom FY23/24that are ongoing and/or still
applicable. For those with a budgetary note, if the reader desires to examine its location in the budget, please
either continue to read this memorandum or speak with the City Management.
3.Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP)The Wastewater Treatment Plant is the largest capital project the City
has had in several years. While this project does not have any budget changes to report, the impact is
documented in the City’s bond indebtedness directly associated with this project.
4.Employee Payand Benefits–The greatest asset the City of Paris has is itsEmployees.The primary role of
local governmentis to provide those services needed by the community that the private sector cannot provide.
The primary reason the private sector does not provide these services is they are labor intensive with little to
no profit return.In addition, the taxpayersexpect the highest of quality from the City services, thereby the
expectation is for the employees to be of such a quality that accomplishes the Financial Policy stated above.
In FY21/22, the City Councilauthorized the implementation of a comprehensive change to the City’s pay
structure.First, the City Councilauthorized the movement from a 6% / 12% TMRS contribution rate to a 7%
/ 14% contribution rate, which greatly improves the future retirement outlook for our employees and helps
with retention and morale.Second, the City Councilapproved a pay plan that moved all positions towards
comparable pay with that of our peer communities.The City hadfallen far behind in keeping up with
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comparable and market rate pay,issuing only a handful of cost-of-livingadjustments (“COLAs”)over the
prior 20+ years.This pay study was implemented for non-civil service employees in FY21/22, and across
two phases for civil-service employees in FY21/22 and FY22/23.This change also resulted in a
comprehensive overhaul of the Fire and Police Department seniority scales, eliminating any overlap between
ranksand making a smooth and progressively increasing tiered scale for all the ranks.Third, each of the last
fourbudgets, the City has implemented 2% COLAs to help offset our employee’s rising cost of living. While
this can be seen as apay raise, it is more appropriately seen as a means to ensure the employee’s personal
purchasing power is not eroded by market inflation while working for the City. Market inflation –the increase
in price you pay for a standard basket of goods –can become a leadingreason for why employees seek other
employment opportunities of higher pay.Fourth, the City implemented a transition of all Fire personnel from
the Paris Firefighters’ Relief and Retirement Fund (“pension”) to the TMRS in FY22/23. The City “froze”
the pension while simultaneously moving all existing and future fire employees over to the TMRS program.
To accomplish this, long term debt via a pension bond was issued. This successfully dropped the City’s
contribution rate from 14% to 5.1% (the FY22/23TMRS rate), and 16% to 7% for the employee –both
proving to be significant annual savings to the City and employee. The City took on additional debt payment
to fund this pension bond, but the ultimate long term cost benefit to the City of Paris of this bond far outweighs
the ever-growingunfunded liability the City would be facing were the pension to have continuedits previous
trajectory.At the time of implementation, the City of Paris’ Fire Pension was known as the least funded fire
pension in the State of Texas at 28% funded. We are now fully funded and on course to sunsetthis liability.
Fifth,with the rising cost of health insurance, the city’s health insurance program has become more
expensive. This cost increase is primarily borneby the employee as the City pays a flat monthly amount that
does not change unless approved by the City Council. The City Council agreed to increase the monthly
contribution from $565/employee to $595/employeein FY22/23, and then to $625/employee in FY23/24.
This has helped offset the rising cost to the employee.Sixth, in FY23/24, the City Council approved a
transition from biennial step / seniority increases for employees to an annual step / seniority increase program.
This change allows employees to enjoy pay raises every year, instead of every other year, thus providing a
cumulative gain in their income over their tenure of service with the City. On behalf of the City Staff, I would
like to thank the City Council for all their support for our employees with the above much needed changes
and improvements.
We are tentatively planning on conducting a new pay study in FY24/25 for the FY25/26 budget.
In the Proposed FY24/25Budget, we have included the following adjustments to further make positive
impacts to our employee pay and benefits in order to attract and retain quality personnel in the service of our
community.
1)A 2% Cost of Living Adjustment for all full-time positions.
2)A $25/month increase in the City’s monthly contribution for Health Insurance from $625/month
to $650/month.
3)In lieu of #1, the Police Department sworn officers will see increases as described in Priority
#1 of this Executive Summary.
4)A comparable pay study has once again been included in the budget.
5)The city is working with a consultant to advertise for bidding its health insurance program for
FY24/25 in pursuit of a more favorable policy for employees.
Regarding item #1 –annual COLAs will allow the City to try and maintain its pay program in comparison
against our comparable communities and help avoid drastic changes at each pay study.
Regarding item #2 –The FY23/24 rates ultimately exceeded what we predicted during the budget process a
year ago, which required some changes in monthly contribution among the City’s four different plans. While
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we are working on bidding our health insurance program in FY24/25, it is still recommended that the City
provide additional monthly assistance to the employees for health insurance premium expenses.
Regarding item #3 –Please see Priority Item #1 in this Executive Summary for additional information.
Regarding item #4 –The city last performed a comparable pay study in FY20/21 which took effect in
FY21/22. It has now been four years since the last study. It is recommended these studies be performed every
3-5 years to keep up with competition. This goes hand in hand with annual COLAs so that the city might
avoid drastic changes in the pay plan following each study. We have included funding to perform a new
comparable pay study in FY24/25 in preparation for the FY25/26 budget process a year from now. In other
words, the study will be done in FY24/25,and the recommendations will be used to influence the proposed
FY25/26 budget. Pay studies are important because they balance the need to provide the employees a fair
and competitive wage for attracting and retaining talent, with the expectation by the taxpayers that the city
provide services at reasonably low cost.
Regarding item #5 –The City contracted with Charlesworth Consulting to study its Group Insurance
program, primarily its health insurance. Upon recent completion of this study, the recommendation is for the
city to bid out its insurance for FY24/25.
5.Rising Costs –As has been true each of the last few years, wecontinue to seerising costsfor goods and
services. Numerous line items have seen their budgets increase just due to the rise in prices for the same
amount of product we are purchasing. Staff continue to work hard to find good deals on our significant
purchases, but even maintaining minimum services continuesto require increases in revenue to fund.
6.Capital Projects and Purchases–With the help of ARPA, General Fund Reserve, and CARES funding, we
will be undertaking several needed projects and large capital purchases.In order for the employees to do their
work and fulfill the Financial Policy, they must have adequate equipment.Once again, much of the work the
City provides its citizens is labor intensive.Therefore, the proposed FY24/25budget includes a series of
equipment purchases.A full listing of all capital purchases planned in the Proposed FY24/25Budget can be
found later in this report.
7.Reclassification of Current Employees–The FY24/25 budget includes two reclassifications of existing
employees. In both situations, the City is not adding a new position, but rather taking an existing employee
and substantially increasing their job responsibilities by converting their current position in to a new one. To
accomplish this, their current position will be unbudgeted, and their new position, with a reasonable and
appropriate pay adjustment, will be created.
First, the City will reclassify Bill Loranger from Parks and Recreation Superintendent to Assistant Public
Works Director. Mr. Loranger has 24 years of experience with the City of Paris, many of those as the
Superintendent. He has skills and abilities thatcan be put to even greater use upon promotion to a position
of higher responsibility and accountability within the City of Paris. His faithful and loyal service to the City
of Paris, carefully managing the City’s Parks and Recreation departments, has proven his ability as a
supervisor and leader, and we would like to tap into this to serve Paris, its council, citizens and staff at a
higher level. He will continue to perform many of his current duties, delegating some to staff, but stepping
up to assist the PublicWorks Director on high level matters
Second, the City will reclassify Brian Dabbs from Informational Technology Technician to Network Security
Supervisor. Mr. Dabbs contains an impressive wealth of IT knowledge, experience, and capability. In the
ever-changingworld of cyber-crimeand online security, it is critical that the City continue to advance its
defensive capabilities online to protect our critical networkinfrastructure. When our network fails, many of
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our operations are severally disrupted. Mr. Dabbs has expertise in this area that we wish to task him with
overseeing and managing. He will continue to perform many of his current duties butstepping up to assist
the IT Department with advancing our security measures online.
As City Management, it is one of our many duties to recognize and promote opportunities for greater
efficiency for our municipal operations and service to our community, particularly when those opportunities
exist from within. Given the available in-house skill and talent we have in Mr. Loranger and Mr. Dabbs, it
makes total sense to promote theirabilities forward and upwards to perform even greater service to our
community.
8.Maintaining Operational Services –Despite the significant challenges and priorities mentioned above, the
Proposed FY24/25Budget is also designed to maintain operational services for our citizens.Throughout the
entire budget, it is clear to usthat the City Staff continue to do a great job of being frugal, consistent, and
conscientiousof the taxpayerdollar.Departments are steadily providing the services under the substantially
same budgets year after year, only withminimal increases to account forincreases in prices.Wecontinue to
set individual line-itembudgetssuch that it matches the true cost to provide the service as seen over the prior
fewyears.Any adjustments up or down are for known reasons (a new piece of equipment, dropping the need
for a particular subscription, better pricing through new bids, increases in service costs, etc.).While there is
much more we would like to do for our citizens, we respect that resources are limited and will continue to
use them as wisely as we can to impact themost individuals possible.
9.Texas Property Tax Reform and Transparency Act of 2019 –This Act was passed by the Texas Legislature
in 2019.This represents a fairly comprehensive amendment to how Municipalities in Texas prepare their
budgets.This Act first took effect inFY20/21.A large amount of the Act changes how the Texas Comptroller
operates, but there is a fair amount of edits to how the City of Paris must handle the procedure of passing a
budget (notices, deadlines, public hearings, content of material produced, etc.), but the primary and long-
lastingimpact that the City of Paris will feel for years to come is the restriction in Property Tax Growth.The
Texas Municipal League (TML) has produced an Explanatory Q&A, found on their website.The reader can
also read SB2 directly, but I would strongly recommend starting with the TML Q&A first to give you an idea
of what it is you are reading in the Act.The Act is rather complicated.
The TML Q&A does a very good job of capturing the essence of SB2.
“At its most fundamental level, S.B. 2 reforms the system of property taxation in three primary ways: (1)
lowering the tax rate a taxing unit can adopt without voter approval and requiring a mandatory election to
go above the lowered rate; (2) making numerous changes to the procedure by which a city adopts a tax rate;
and (3) making several changes to the property tax appraisal process.”
The Act produces the following formula when calculating our new Property Tax Rate:
“Voter-Approval Rate = (No-New-Revenue Maintenance and Operations Rate x 1.035) + (Current Debt
Service Tax Rate+ Unused Increment Rate)”
In short, the City of Paris can only growits Maintenance and Operational Tax Rate by 3.5% each year, plus
unused increment rate from previous years,without, possibly, triggering a mandatory election (hence the
“Voter Approval” terminology).Cities with populations less than 30,000 have an additional threshold called
the “De Minimis Rate” that is calculated differently (not shown here), would exceed the Voter-Approval
Rateand would give the citythe ability to raise additional Property Tax without triggering the election.In
this situation, an election would only be required if the final requested property tax rate exceeded both the
Voter Approval Rate as well as the De Minimis Rate.It is not recommended that the City of Paris utilize this
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additional growth created by the De Minimis Rate unless necessary.
It is strongly recommended that the City of Paris attempt to utilize this allowed growth each year, when
needed,in order to keep up with the growing costs of performing the Financial Policy.The costs that the City
sees (third party, professional services, benefits, insurance, fuel, etc.) is not limited by this same legislation,
therefore if the City falls behind, it could find itself unable to keep up, thus cutting services.Fortunately, the
legislation is currently written such that a City can still utilize unused growth within three years (if the City
utilizes 2.5% of the allowed 3.5% in year one, it can still use that additional 1% within the next three years).
After that though, the City forever loses that growth potential, thus the road to falling behind begins.Utilizing
the 3.5% growth each year, when needed,also allows for steady and healthy increases instead of drastic and
last-minuteones.I am in no way proposing that we arbitrarily increase the property tax for M&O each year
by 3.5% if it is not needed.But if the service calls for this, giventhe legislators have already acted on behalf
of the publicby limiting the growth potential, the 3.5%, which is not a lot to work with,would be reasonable
to utilize when necessary.
Reasons for Salient Changes from the Previous Fiscal Year
So as not to repeat information, please see Sections43(7) and 43(8) below, which are combined in this memorandum.
Changes in Financial Policy
The Financial Policy for FY24/25is the same as given in FY23/24.
City of Paris Charter –Article V –Section 43(2)
“A consolidated statement of receipts and expenditures for all funds.”
Fund NumberFund TitleExpenditureRevenueNetNotes
1General Fund$ 34,437,000 $ 33,061,000 $ (1,376,000)Deficit caused by capital expenditures that will be covered by reserves.
2Economic Development Fund$ 5,207,431$ 1,980,000$ (3,227,431)Deficit will be covered by funds already received.
3Airport Fund$ 1,060,407$ 984,681 $ (75,726)Deficit covered by General Fund contribution.
4American Rescue Plan Act Fund$ 798,000 $ - $ (798,000) Expending funds already received.
6Tax & Rev CO 2021 Construction Fund$ - $ - $ -WWTP construction fund.
7COP Evidence Fund$ - $ - $ -Misc. money seized as evidence.
8Housing Foundation Fund$ - $ - $ -Used to accept donations for the housing program.
10Water & Sewer Fund$ 22,037,204 $ 22,037,204 $ -Utility Fund
11Capital Projects Fund$ 25,000$ 25,000$ -Misc. capital projects using funds accrued over time plus interest.
12Main Street Fund$ - $ - $ -Main Street activity. Fund raising and donations.
13Equipment Replacement Fund$ - $ 8,000$ 8,000Originally set up to purchase sanitation trucks every other year.
17Main Street Advisory Board$ - $ - $ -Main Street Board activities.
18Main Street BIG$ - $ - $ -Set up to pay for façade cost reimbursements.
19Vacant Building Fund$ 3,000$ 3,000$ -Vacant building registration fees.
20Municipal Court Local Traffic Fee$ 130$ 130$ -Court costs.
21Child Safety Fund$ 200$ 200$ -Court costs.
22Municipal Court Local Truancy Fee$ 5,750$ 5,750$ -Court costs.
23PEG Channel Fund$ 50,000$ 50,000$ -Funding for local cable channel.
24Lake Crook Restoration Fund$ - $ - $ -Donated funds for Lake Crook improvements.
25Grant Fund$ 554,192 $ 554,192 $ -Various grants run through this fund.
26Municipal Court Jury Fund$ 100$ 100$ -Court costs.
27Water Contract Fund$ - $ 30,000$ 30,000 Deposits for utility accounts plus interest earned on them.
29Passing School Bus Fund$ - $ - $ -Court costs.
30Community Block Grant Fund$ - $ 10,000$ 10,000 CDBG grant
31State Consolidated Fee$ 1,000$ 1,000$ -Court costs.
32Auto Theft Program Fund$ 15,000$ 15,000$ -Inspection Program fees.
33Municipal Court Tech Fee$ 10,000$ 5,000$ (5,000)Court costs.
34Municipal Court Security Fee$ 18,250$ 6,500$ (11,750)Court costs.
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35Municipal Court Child Safety Fee$ 1,000$ 375$ (625)Court costs.
36Municipal Court Time Payment Fee$ 900$ 1,300$ 400 Court costs.
37Police Confidential Fund-Gambling$ - $ 200$ 200 Confiscated gambling money used to further police efforts
to combat gambling.
38Police Judicial Forfeitures$ 3,000$ 15,000$ 12,000 Seized assets awarded to the Police Dept. Used for unbudgeted equipment.
39Police Equitable Sharing Fund$ 2,000$ 2,000$ -Same as Fund 38 except these are federal seizures.
40Special Hotel Tax$ - $ 65,000$ 65,000 HOT tax 5% admin fee. Must be used in same way as other HOT tax money.
41Grand Theater Donations$ - $ - $ -Set up for donations to restore the theater.
44CO 2016 Construction Fund$ - $ - $ -Construction Fund
46GO Bonds 2017 Construction Fund$ - $ - $ -Construction Fund
47GO Bonds 2018 Construction Fund-W&S$ - $ - $ -Construction Fund
50Revenue Bond Reserve Fund$ - $ 200,000 $ 200,000Required Reserve for bond debt.
72Library Memorial Fund$ 1,000$ 2,300$ 1,300Donations in memory of someone. Books purchased from funds.
79Library Expendable Fund$ 500$ 2,500$ 2,000Bequests to Library without restrictions.
80Library Permanent Fund$ - $ - $ -Bequests to Library with restrictions on using the principal.
83Revenue Bonds 2022 Construction Fund$ - $ - $ -Construction Fund
86TIRZ Fund$ 245,000 $ 81,000$ (164,000) Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone
87CO 2024 Construction Fund$ - $ - $ -Construction Fund
In situations above where you see a negative net (ex:General Fund, Airport Fund,Municipal Court Security Fee, etc.),
this Fund has existing carryover and/or reserve funding available.The Revenue line shows the new revenue raised,
while the Expenditure line shows the possible expenditure of both new revenue and reserve and/or carryover.In other
cases, a positive net is shown when the City foresees more collection than expense, but these are primarily in Special
Funds which have very restricted and narrowly defined expense options.The primary focus of our attention is the
Operational Funds which are Funds #1, 3, and 10.General Fund (#1) shows utilizing General Fund Reserveto fund
capital requests (one-time expenses).Despite using some of the reserve, the City will still be able to maintain its
minimum 4-month reserve balance.It is important that the City utilize its full allowable growth under SB2 to keep up
with the rising costs of non-capital expenses.The reserve should only ever be used to fund one-time purchases while
reoccurring expenses are covered through annual revenue.The City must also be careful never to utilize too much of
the reserve such that we dip below our minimum 4-month balance.This must be forecasted over an entire year as the
reserve fluctuates given revenue does not all come in equal and regular increments, thus there must be an ability to
cash flow while maintaining a 4-monthbalance.The Airport Fund (#3) shows receiving a transfer from the General
Fund.The Water and Sewer Fund (#10) isour primary business account and isbalanced (new revenue = expense).Of
final note, it is not critical that non-operational funds be balanced as we can only spend what is in the account and on
things that are eligible contractually and/or lawfully.In addition, even if we do not have an amount budgeted, or not
enough shown, we can still access the available funds within the non-operational fund when needed.
City of Paris Charter –Article V –Section 43(3)
“An analysis of property valuations.”
2020-20212021-20222022-20232023 - 20242024-2025
Total Taxable Value$ 1,876,141,460.00 $ 2,228,001,573.00$ 2,423,466,605.00 $2,588,988,526.00$ 2,801,652,344.00
Percent DifferenceN/A19%9%7%9%
O&M Tax Rate0.397880.373570.343770.321760.30373
Debt Tax Rate0.08290.080160.099010.156060.14828
Total Tax Rate0.480780.453730.442780.477820.45201
Percent DifferenceN/A-6%-2%8%-5%
While Total Taxable Value has increased in recent years, the City’s Total Tax Rate has decreasedexcept for the
Proposed FY23/24 Budget.The Texas Property Tax Reform and Transparency Act of 2019 will continue to manage,
or as the intended goal of the legislators might be summarized as to say “keep in check”, the City’s M & OTax Rate
(note: the Debt Tax Rate is unaffected by this Act).
City of Paris Charter –Article V –Section 43(4)
“An analysis of the tax rate.”
Page 12of 18
The Maintenance and Operation tax rate is decreasing while the Debt Service Tax rate is increasingin FY23/24.The
following represents a comparison of FY21/22, FY22/23, and FY 23/24 vs. the Proposed FY24/25Tax Rates:
YearM&ODebtTotal
FY21/22$0.37357$0.08016$0.45373
FY22/23$0.34377$0.09901$0.44278
FY23/24$0.32176$0.15606$0.47782
FY24/25$0.30373$0.14828$0.45201Preliminary
The following represents a comparison of these tax rates against that of the Proposed FY23/24 tax rate:
FY24/25FundFY21/22FY22/23FY23/24
$0.30373M & O($0.06984)($0.04176)($0.01803)
$0.14828Debt$0.06812$0.04927($0.00778)
$0.45201Total($0.00172)$0.00923($0.02581)
This Tax Rate is, to the best of our determination using the Comptroller’s Forms, in full compliance with Senate Bill
2, also known as the Texas Property Tax Reform and Transparency Act of 2019, approved by the Texas Legislature
in 2019.
To calculate the Property Tax of a Home, the following formula can be used:
(Value of Home/100) x $0.45201= Property Tax to be Paid
Example: $100,000.00 Value Home:($100,000.00/100) x $0.45201= $1,000 x $0.45201=$452.01
Please note that the Property Tax Rates of Lamar County, Paris Junior College, and either the Paris ISD, North Lamar
ISD, or Chisum ISD will alsoaffect the Property Tax to be paid.In FY23/24,the following shows the Property Tax
Rates broken out by School Districtfor FY23/24.
Total Taxes under Chisum ISDTotal Taxes under North Lamar ISDTotal Taxes under Paris ISD
Taxing Entity2023 RatePercent of TotalTaxing Entity2023 RatePercent of TotalTaxing Entity2023 RatePercent of Total
City of Paris$0.477824%City of Paris$0.477826%City of Paris$0.477826%
Paris Junior College$0.07104%Paris Junior College$0.07104%Paris Junior College$0.07104%
Lamar County$0.304515%Lamar County$0.304517%Lamar County$0.304517%
Chisum ISD$1.158058%North Lamar ISD$0.956653%Paris ISD$0.963753%
$2.0113100%$1.8099100%$1.8170100%
Depending on which ISD a residentlives, the City of Paris’ Property Tax Rate in 2023(FY23/24)was either 24%or
26%of their total Property Tax Bill.The 2024(FY24/25)Property Tax Rates are not yet known, but they are likely
not to change dramatically.It should therefore be noted that when the Cityutilizes it’s 3.5% growth as allowed by the
Texas Property Tax Reform and Transparency Act of 2019, while critical to the City’s Financial Policy and planned
operation, ithasa nearly de minimis impactas compared to the total tax bill owed by a resident.
City of Paris Charter –Article V –Section 43(5)
“Tax levies and tax collections by years for at least five years or, if records for five years are not available,
then for as many years as are available.”
Page 13of 18
Fiscal YearTotal Tax LevyTotal Tax CollectedPercent Collected
FY22/23$ 10,441,096.00 $ 10,204,442.00 97.73%
FY21/22$ 9,894,846.00$ 9,627,731.0097.30%
FY20/21$ 9,592,756.00$ 9,321,264.0097.17%
FY19/20$ 9,332,621.00$ 9,047,981.0096.95%
FY18/19$ 9,381,829.00$ 9,208,248.0098.15%
FY17/18$ 9,145,965.00$ 8,973,214.0098.11%
FY16/17$ 8,093,094.00$ 7,940,087.0098.11%
FY15/16$ 7,627,731.00$ 7,406,830.0097.10%
Total Tax Levy is what could have been paid if 100% of the taxes were paid.Total Tax Collected is what was actually
paid.The City typically hovers in the 97% -98% range.As of the writing of this memorandum, the city is once again
around 97% so far in FY23//24.We work closelywith our Delinquent Tax Attorney to address issues of unpaid
property tax each year.Total Tax collected for FY23/24is not yet known, therefore is excluded from this table.
City of Paris Charter –Article V –Section 43(6)
“General Fund Resources in detail.”
Please see Exhibit A attached for a detailed listing of all Funds by line item (not just General Fund).This Exhibit A
shows the Proposed FY24/25Budget (shown on the sheets as “Proposed FY2025Budget”).The “Year Budget” is the
FY23/24Budget.The “Current Year” is how much has been received to-date as of the printing of Exhibit A.And
finally,FY2023,FY2022, FY2021,and FY2020are the prior four years of Actual Revenues that were used to help
produce the Proposed FY24/25Budget.There is of course a lot of information here, but for a community the size of
Paris, budgets are complex.The purpose of showing you this much information is to give transparency.
City of Paris Charter –Article V –Section 43(7), 43(8), 43(9)
“Summary of proposed expenditures by function, department, and activity.”
“Summary of proposed expenditures by character and object.”
“Detailed estimates of expenditures shown separately for each activity to support the summaries No. 7 and
8 above.Such estimates of expenditures are to include an itemization of positions showing the number of
persons having each title and the rate of pay.”
Please see Exhibit B attached for a detailed listing of all Funds by line item.This Exhibit B shows the Proposed
FY24/25Budget (shown in the software as “Proposed FY2025Budget”).The “Year Budget” is the FY23/24Budget.
The “Expended Year” is how much has been spent to-date as of the printing of Exhibit B.And finally,FY2023,
FY2022, FY2021,and FY2020are the prior four years of Actual Expenditures that were used to help produce the
Proposed FY24/25Budget.There is of course a lot of information here, but for a community the size of Paris, budgets
are complex.The purpose of showing you this much information is to give transparency.To assist you in identifying
Operating Departments, the following legend is a breakdown of the Departments by Fund Number and Department
Number, and for added convenience, I have entered the total Proposed FY24/25Budget for each department(insome
situations, you must addthe Expense and Capital Outlay-Equipment to get the total).
Page 14of 18
Fund NumberDepartment NumberDepartmentProposed FY24/25 BudgetFund NumberDepartment NumberDepartmentProposed FY24/25 Budget
111City Council$ 200,500.00162Paris Band$ 23,050.00
112City Manager$ 836,141.00164Library$ 871,304.00
113City Attorney$ 416,651.00189General Expenses$ 1,647,926.00
114Municipal Court$ 294,743.00189-1IT$ 652,367.00
115City Clerk$ 230,801.00191Contigency$ 50,000.00
121Accounting and Auditing$ 658,964.00361Airport$ 1,060,407.00
131Police$ 8,233,473.00 1080Warehouse$ 137,247.00
132Fire$ 5,965,269.00 1081Billing and Collecting$ 3,062,189.00
140Community Development$ 671,250.001082Water Production$ 4,254,635.00
140-1Main Street$ 147,671.001083Water Distribution$ 1,604,482.00
140-2Code Enforcement$ 985,064.001083-6CIP-Water$ 428,214.00
141Engineering$ 755,823.001085Sewer Distribution$ 751,205.00
142Public Works$ 256,162.001085-6CIP-Sewer$ 292,811.00
143Parks, Pool and Recreation$ 1,530,894.00 1086Waste Water Treatment$ 2,690,607.00
144Sanitation$ 1,846,374.00 1087Lift Stations$ 597,299.00
146Street$ 1,582,554.00 1090Debt$ 8,039,922.00
148Traffic$ 530,797.001091Contigency$ 304,500.00
149Garage$ 478,133.00
154EMS$ 5,316,589.00
The following Table is a listing of allthe significant capital outlay and improvement requeststhat havebeen added to
the Proposed FY24/25Budget.
DepartmentLine ItemDescriptionFundBudgetReserveNotes
City Council01-40319-11-000City Manager SearchGeneral Fund$ 30,000.00 YesExecutive search firm (Baker Tilly)
City Council01-40320-11-000City Manager MovingGeneral Fund$ 15,000.00 YesExpected cost of moving a new CM to Paris
City Council01-40322-11-000Comparable Pay StudyGeneral Fund$ 20,000.00 YesTime for another pay study
Police01-42158-31-000ALERT Incident TrainingGeneral Fund$ 52,000.00 YesEquipment for Active Shooter Training / School Safety - Mandated
Police01-42159-31-000SWAT EquipmentGeneral Fund$ 14,000.00 YesBallistic Helmets
Police01-42161-31-000Patrol Office RemodelGeneral Fund$ 20,000.00 YesContinued remodeling project - cubicle workstation
Police01-42162-31-000Lighter Jackets & Vest CarriersGeneral Fund$ 10,000.00 YesOuter carriers
Police01-42160-31-099DroneGeneral Fund$ 20,000.00 YesNew drone for missing persons, crime scenes, crowd control
Police01-42163-31-099Dispatch EMD SoftwareGeneral Fund$ 45,000.00 YesNew medical dispatching software
Continue with an annual replacement program (takes several years,
Fire01-42001-32-000Radio Raplacement ProgramGeneral Fund$ 45,000.00 YesFY23/24 was first).
Fire01-42002-32-000Firestation #1 KitchenGeneral Fund$ 35,000.00 YesUpdate kitchen, built in 1996, in need of renovations.
Fire01-42003-32-000Living Room FurnitureGeneral Fund$ 18,000.00 YesReplace old furniture
Fire01-42004-32-099Fire Marshal VehicleGeneral Fund$ 90,000.00 YesReplace 2011
Code Enforcement01-43002-40-002TruckGeneral Fund$ 54,000.00 YesReplacing 2000
Code Enforcement01-43003-40-002Truck - 4WD DuallyGeneral Fund$ 65,000.00 YesTo pull truck to dump and not get stuck in mud which delays jobs
Community Development01-43001-40-099TruckGeneral Fund$ 51,000.00 YesReplace 2006.
Engineering01-42181-41-000Stormflow Overlow Basin ProjectGeneral Fund$ 110,000.00Yes1) Wade Park / 2) Lamar Avenue
Engineering01-42180-41-097Belford Parking LotGeneral Fund$ 250,000.00YesAdditional parking for downtown area and special events
Parks01-41005-43-099ZTR MowerGeneral Fund$ 16,000.00 YesAnnual replacement program.
Parks01-42026-43-099TruckGeneral Fund$ 58,000.00 YesReplace 2000
Sanitation01-42013-44-099TruckGeneral Fund$ 47,000.00 YesReplace 1998
Streets & Highway01-42028-46-099TruckGeneral Fund$ 47,000.00 YesReplace 1990s
Traffic & Public Lighting01-42025-48-099Electronic Speed SignsGeneral Fund$ 10,000.00 YesAdd to inventory of signs for use around the City
Garage01-42029-49-099TruckGeneral Fund$ 63,000.00 YesReplace 2001
EMS01-42006-54-099Supervisor CarGeneral Fund$ 90,000.00 YesReplacing 2009
EMS01-42007-54-099Lucas Device - 8th AmbulanceGeneral Fund$ 20,000.00 YesEquipping added ambulance in fleet
EMS01-42008-54-099Zoll Z Vent - 8th AmbulanceGeneral Fund$ 16,000.00 YesEquipping added ambulance in fleet
Library01-42018-64-000Tiled Carpet Children's LibraryGeneral Fund$ 17,000.00 YesUpdate Children's space
Library01-42019-64-000Painting - Children's LibraryGeneral Fund$ 13,000.00 YesUpdate Children's space
Page 15of 18
General01-40606-89-000Airport Assistance (GPU)General Fund$ 23,000.00 YesHelps with startup of aircraft.
Airport03-42009-61-099Ground Power Unit (GPU)See AboveSee AboveHelps with startup of aircraft.
IT01-41479-89-005Microsoft Teams RoomGeneral Fund$ 12,000.00 YesImproved TEAMs virtual meeting equipment.
Police04-42167-31-000Surveillance CamerasARPA Fund$ 15,000.00 YesExpanding camera network for high crime areas and parks
TCFP requires all personnel to be fit tested, having our own equipment
Fire04-42164-32-000Fit Test RegulatorARPA Fund$ 10,000.00 Yesmore than pays for itself vs. outsourcing.
Fire04-42165-32-000Bay Heaters (x4)ARPA Fund$ 15,000.00 YesHeat bay and keep equipment warm and protected from cold
Fire04-42182-32-000Level A Hazmat SuitARPA Fund$ 13,000.00 YesCurrent equipment is 10+ years old, must be replaced (cannot be used).
Parks04-42168-43-000Commander One Lighting DetectoARPA Fund$ 10,000.00 YesCurrent lighting detector equipment no longer works.
Streets & Highway04-42169-46-099Wheel LoaderARPA Fund$ 180,000.00YesCurrent wheel loader is aged and wearing out.
Allows us to reclaim millings (large mill and overlay project) as well as
Streets & Highway04-42170-46-099Hot Box / ReclaimerARPA Fund$ 65,000.00 Yespour hot mix during winter months (better product than cold mix).
EMS04-42166-54-000Tablet ReplacementARPA Fund$ 15,000.00 YesTougher and more rugged devices for out in the field (recommended by IT).
Airport04-42173-61-000Fuel Farm (90/10 Grant)ARPA Fund$ 120,000.00YesIIJA 90/10 Grant
Waste Water Distribution04-42171-86-099Line Camera & TractorARPA Fund$ 165,000.00YesCurrent camera is 12+ years old, cannot do storm drains.
Waste Water Distribution04-42172-86-099Vactor Ramjet TruckARPA Fund$ 190,000.00YesCurrent unit is very old. This is an everyday truck.
W & S Billing and Collecting10-42011-81-000Fee Schedule StudyWater Fund$ 30,000.00 NoTime for a fee study to ensure fees are appropriate
Water Production10-40915-82-098Filtration PlantWater Fund$ 350,000.00NoReplacement of Filter System - this is the 4th filter to replace out of 10
Current system destroyed by lightning strike. Now it is manually operated.
Water Production10-42175-82-099CLA-Valve ControllerWater Fund$ 26,000.00 NoUpgrade to SCADA connection.
Water - CIP10-41002-83-006Meter ReplacementWater Fund$ 100,000.00NoContinue replacing old meters with radio read meters
Water - CIP10-42178-83-006TruckWater Fund$ 68,000.00 NoReplace 2013
Sewer - CIP10-42179-85-006SkidsteerWater Fund$ 75,000.00 NoCurrent skidsteer no longer works.
WWTP10-42174-86-099TruckWater Fund$ 50,000.00 NoReplace 2008
Liftstations10-42176-87-099Flygt Pumps (x3)Water Fund$ 45,000.00 NoOld Bonham Road and City Lot Lift Stations
Liftstations10-42177-87-099TruckWater Fund$ 50,000.00 NoReplace 2013
Parks01-40101-43-000Reclassify - Create Assistant PWDGeneral Fund$ 7,200.00 NoRestructuring Public Works Department
IT01-40101-89-005Reclassify - Create Security Sup.General Fund$ 4,600.00 NoSpecializing IT Employee B. Dabbs
W & S Billing and Collecting10-40101-81-000Additional Utility Billing ClerkWater Fund$ 45,000.00 NoAdded employee to answer calls and increase customer service
Please see Exhibit C for an itemization of positions showing the number of persons having each title and the rate of
pay as shown in the Proposed FY24/25Budget.Note, this only reflects the starting pay as of October 1, 2024.
Employees eligible for merit or seniority pay increases will experience those throughout the year.
City of Paris Charter –Article V –Section 43(10)
“A revenue and expense statement for all types of bonds.”
The following is a summary of the Long-TermFinancing that the City of Paris is currently scheduledand/or proposed
to make payments on in the Proposed FY24/25Budget.
Fund NumberFund TitleExpenditureRevenueNetNotes
51CO 2013 (TWDB) I&S Fund$ 165,700 $ 166,500 $ 800 Debt payments. TWDB loan for utility lines.
53GO Refunding 2020 I&S Fund$ 208,995 $ 209,000 $ 5Debt payments. Collegiate Drive project.
54GO Pension Bonds 2022 I&S Fund$ 1,303,175$ 1,315,000$ 11,825 Debt payments. Pension bond to fully fund firemen's pension fund before it
was frozen.
63GO Bonds 2016 I&S Fund$ 553,410 $ 554,210 $ 800 Debt payments. Utility line work.
64GO Bonds 2017 I&S Fund$ 633,837 $ 634,135 $ 298 Debt payments. Street and park projects.
65GO Bonds 2018 I&S Fund$ 143,700 $ 145,000 $ 1,300Debt payments. Utility line work.
67Hotel Tax I&S Fund$ 168,435 $ 169,235 $ 800 Debt payments. Love Civic Center remodel.
68Tax Notes 2020 I&S Fund$ 199,095 $ 201,000 $ 1,905Debt payments. Equipment purchases.
69CO 2021 I&S Fund$ 3,114,900$ 3,124,900$ 10,000 Debt payments. WWTP project.
82Revenue Bonds 2022 I&S Fund$ 1,717,690$ 1,727,490$ 9,800Debt payments. WWTP project.
85GO Refunding 2023 I&S Fund$ 1,467,450$ 1,477,450$ 10,000 Debt payments. Utility line work.
88CO 2024 I&S Fund$ 2,344,585$ 2,354,385$ 9,800Debt payments. WWTP project.
City of Paris Charter –Article V –Section 43(11) and 43(12)
“A description of all bond issues outstanding, showing rate of interest, date of issue, maturity date, amount
authorized, amount issued, and amount outstanding.”
“A schedule of requirements for the principal and interest of each issue of bonds.”
Please see Exhibit Dattached for a list of all Amortization Schedules for the Long-TermFinancing that the City of
Paris currently has outstandingor is proposed to have outstanding.
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City of Paris Charter –Article V –Section 43(13)
“A special funds section.”
The following table is a summary of the special funds proposed in the FY24/25Budget.
Fund NumberFund TitleExpenditureRevenueNetNotes
2Economic Development Fund$ 5,207,431$ 1,980,000$ (3,227,431)Deficit will be covered by funds already received.
4American Rescue Plan Act Fund$ 798,000 $ - $ (798,000) Expending funds already received.
6Tax & Rev CO 2021 Construction Fund$ - $ - $ -WWTP construction fund.
7COP Evidence Fund$ - $ - $ -Misc. money seized as evidence.
8Housing Foundation Fund$ - $ - $ -Used to accept donations for the housing program.
11Capital Projects Fund$ 25,000$ 25,000$ -Misc. capital projects using funds accrued over time plus interest.
12Main Street Fund$ - $ - $ -Main Street activity. Fund raising and donations.
13Equipment Replacement Fund$ - $ 8,000$ 8,000Originally set up to purchase sanitation trucks every other year.
17Main Street Advisory Board$ - $ - $ -Main Street Board activities.
18Main Street BIG$ - $ - $ -Set up to pay for façade cost reimbursements.
19Vacant Building Fund$ 3,000$ 3,000$ -Vacant building registration fees.
20Municipal Court Local Traffic Fee$ 130$ 130$ -Court costs.
21Child Safety Fund$ 200$ 200$ -Court costs.
22Municipal Court Local Truancy Fee$ 5,750$ 5,750$ -Court costs.
23PEG Channel Fund$ 50,000$ 50,000$ -Funding for local cable channel.
24Lake Crook Restoration Fund$ - $ - $ -Donated funds for Lake Crook improvements.
25Grant Fund$ 554,192 $ 554,192 $ -Various grants run through this fund.
26Municipal Court Jury Fund$ 100$ 100$ -Court costs.
27Water Contract Fund$ - $ 30,000$ 30,000 Deposits for utility accounts plus interest earned on them.
29Passing School Bus Fund$ - $ - $ -Court costs.
30Community Block Grant Fund$ - $ 10,000$ 10,000 CDBG grant
31State Consolidated Fee$ 1,000$ 1,000$ -Court costs.
32Auto Theft Program Fund$ 15,000$ 15,000$ -Inspection Program fees.
33Municipal Court Tech Fee$ 10,000$ 5,000$ (5,000)Court costs.
34Municipal Court Security Fee$ 18,250$ 6,500$ (11,750)Court costs.
35Municipal Court Child Safety Fee$ 1,000$ 375$ (625)Court costs.
36Municipal Court Time Payment Fee$ 900$ 1,300$ 400 Court costs.
37Police Confidential Fund-Gambling$ - $ 200$ 200 Confiscated gambling money used to further police efforts
to combat gambling.
38Police Judicial Forfeitures$ 3,000$ 15,000$ 12,000 Seized assets awarded to the Police Dept. Used for unbudgeted equipment.
39Police Equitable Sharing Fund$ 2,000$ 2,000$ -Same as Fund 38 except these are federal seizures.
40Special Hotel Tax$ - $ 65,000$ 65,000 HOT tax 5% admin fee. Must be used in same way as other HOT tax money.
41Grand Theater Donations$ - $ - $ -Set up for donations to restore the theater.
44CO 2016 Construction Fund$ - $ - $ -Construction Fund
46GO Bonds 2017 Construction Fund$ - $ - $ -Construction Fund
47GO Bonds 2018 Construction Fund-W&S$ - $ - $ -Construction Fund
50Revenue Bond Reserve Fund$ - $ 200,000 $ 200,000Required Reserve for bond debt.
72Library Memorial Fund$ 1,000$ 2,300$ 1,300Donations in memory of someone. Books purchased from funds.
79Library Expendable Fund$ 500$ 2,500$ 2,000Bequests to Library without restrictions.
80Library Permanent Fund$ - $ - $ -Bequests to Library with restrictions on using the principal.
83Revenue Bonds 2022 Construction Fund$ - $ - $ -Construction Fund
86TIRZ Fund$ 245,000 $ 81,000$ (164,000) Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone
87CO 2024 Construction Fund$ - $ - $ -Construction Fund
The above are also shown in Exhibits A and B.
City of Paris Charter –Article V –Section 43(14)and43(15)
“The appropriation ordinance.”
“The tax levying ordinance.”
The Appropriation Ordinance and Tax Levying Ordinance will be provided at a future City Council Meeting for the
City Council’s consideration.
City of Paris Charter –Article V –Section 44
“In preparing the budget, the City Manager shall in the preparation of the budget place in parallel columns
opposite the several items of revenue the actual amount of each item of the last completed fiscal year, the
estimated amount for the current fiscal year, and the proposed amount for the ensuing fiscal year.”
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The Proposed FY24/25Budget will show columns for the Proposed FY24/25Budget, the Budget for FY23/24(the
City of Paris is currently within the FY23/24, therefore Actual Yearend Values are not yet available), the Actual
FY22/23Values, as well as the Actual Values for several previous Fiscal Years.Please see Exhibit A.
City of Paris Charter –Article V –Section 45
“The City Manager, in the preparation of the budget, shall, in parallel columns opposite the various items
of expenditures, place the actual amount of such items of expenditures for the last completed fiscal year, the
estimate for the current fiscal year and the proposed amount for the ensuing fiscal year.”
The Proposed FY24/25Budget will show columns for the Proposed FY24/25Budget, the Budget for FY23/24(the
City of Paris is currently within the FY23/24, therefore Actual Yearend Values are not yet available), the Actual
FY22/23Values, as well as the Actual Values for several previous Fiscal Years.Please see Exhibit B.
City of Paris Charter –Article V –Section 56
“Provision shall be made in the annual budget and in the appropriation ordinance for a contingent
appropriation in an amount not more than three (3) percent of the total general fund expenditure, to be used
in case of unforeseen items of expenditures.Such contingent appropriation shall be under the control of the
City Manager and distributed by him, after approval by the City Council. \[…\]”
The total General Fund Expenditure in the Proposed FY24/25Budget is $34,182,500.00.Three Percent (3%) of this
would be $1,025,475.00.The Proposed FY24/25Budget has a listed contingency of $50,000.00 found under 01-
48122-91-000.This has been the amount used for several years.
City of Paris Charter –Article V –Section 57
“The total estimated expenditures of the general fund and debt service fund shall not exceed the total
estimated resources of each fund (prospective income plus cash on hand).\[…\]”
As has been discussed in the above memorandum, the Proposed FY24/25General Fund Budget will be balanced using
prospective income as well as cash on hand from the General Fund Reserve.The General Fund Reserve is healthy
enough to allow for this use while not exceeding policy.In addition, the Proposed FY24/25Budget shows a slight net
positive in each of the Debt Service Fundsin order to meet our debt obligations.
Conclusion
The Proposed FY24/25Budget is a true reflection of the Financial Policy.Through the hard work of many City Staff,
the budget has been thoroughly reviewedso that our most basic of services are properly accounted for, excess funding
has been captured and re-directed to further the services we seek to provide, and the priorities listed in the Budget
Message have been funded while keeping a careful eye on theimpact to the taxpayer.We are very pleased to present
this Proposed FY24/25Budget to the City Counciland we look forward to an opportunity to discuss it further.
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