20 - COMPARATIVE TAX & UTILITY RATESItem No. 20
memorandum
TO: Mayor & City Council
FROM: John Godwin, City Manager
SUBJECT: COMPARATIVE TAX & UTILITY RATES
DATE: July 1, 2015
BACKGROUND: From time to time it is worthwhile to take stock of where we are in relation to
other municipalities in regards to property tax and utility rates. Rates for both in different cities
vary for many reasons, so comparisons are not always easy to use, but they do help us know at
least in general where we compare with others. In some cases, these are cities with which we
compete for both businesses and employees.
STATUS OF ISSUE: I polled twenty other cities for their current ad valorem tax rates. Paris's
rate in $0.50195 per $100 of valuation, compared to the survey average of $0.6092. Fourteen of
the other cities have higher rates than Paris. To get a fuller picture of the overall property tax
burden on citizens owning property in Paris, one must of course also include school, county, and
other taxing entities. For Paris I used the highest of the three school districts (PISD); in other
jurisdictions with more than one ISD, I tried to use the lowest rate. Paris's $2.57355 total is still
slightly lower than the survey average. "Other" in the attached chart includes community
colleges, hospital districts, emergency management districts, etc.
The Texas Municipal League recently completed its annual survey of water and wastewater rates
across Texas, in which Paris participated. They survey groups cities by population, then polls
water and sewer costs at 5,000 and 10,000 gallons for residential customers, and at 50,000 and
200,000 gallons for commercial customers. Paris's water rates are below the state average at all
four measuring points, but above average on all four for sewer.
BUDGET: NA
RECOMMENDATION: Information only.
AD VALOREM TAXES:
Community
City
ISD
County
Other
Total
Allen
$0.54000
$1.64000
$0.32000
$0.07897
$2.578965
Balch Springs
$0.80000
$1.41000
$0.66000
$0.00000
$2.870000
Commerce
$0.82000
$1.62350
$0.53247
$0.34660
$3.322569
Dennison
$0.65338
$1.49920
$0.49090
$0.18150
$2.824977
Frisco
$0.46000
$1.46000
$0.32000
$0.07897
$2.318965
Garland
$0.70000
$1.25000
$0.66000
$0.00000
$2.610000
Greenville
$0.69900
$1.35500
$0.53247
$0.34660
$2.933069
Longview
$0.50990
$1.51300
$0.26250
$0.25229
$2.537690
Marshall
$0.47604
$1.04000
$0.31690
$0.09000
$1.922940
McKinney
$0.58000
$1.67000
$0.32000
$0.07897
$2.648965
Melissa
$0.61000
$1.54000
$0.32000
$0.07897
$2.548965
Mount Pleasant
$0.34370
$1.21200
$0.41820
$0.25850
$2.232400
Paris
$0.50195
$1.45500
$0.43000
$0.18660
$2.573550
Rockwall
$0.50000
$1.44000
$0.40000
$0.00000
$2.340000
Rowlett
$0.79000
$1.25000
$0.66000
$0.00000
$2.700000
Rocye City
$0.67710
$1.67000
$0.53247
$0.34660
$3.226169
Sachse
$0.77000
$1.25000
$0.66000
$0.00000
$2.680000
Sherman
$0.37200
$1.44000
$0.49090
$0.18150
$2.484400
Sulphur Springs
$0.44000
$1.35048
$0.61208
$0.25000
$2.652555
Texarkana
$0.66929
$1.33900
$0.36120
$0.13527
$2.504760
Wylie
$0.88000
$1.640001
$0.320001
$0.07897
$2.918965
AVERAGE
$ 0.6092
$ 1.4308
$ 0.4581 1
$ 0.1414 1
$2.639520
UTILITY RATES:
5000 gallons
10,000 gallons
50,000 gallons
200,000 gallons
WATER
TM average
37.12
54.20
327.71
1,419.25
Paris
27.86
52.28
218.10
805.57
SEWER
TML average
34.13
54.16
223.03
865.02
Paris
35.60
68.91
351.19
1,387.78