The Paris City Council on Aug. 19 reviewed three budget scenarios for police starting pay and an accompanying retiree cost-of-living adjustment (COLA), with staff advising that the least-expensive approach would raise starting police pay to $66,000 and use short-term reserves plus two years of the de minimis tax rate to make the plan financially feasible.

City finance director Jean Anderson presented calculations showing how $66,000, $68,000 and $70,000 starting-salary options would affect the city’s operating budget, TMRS obligations and reserve needs. “If that didn’t work in the 1st year, if we didn’t add 7 or so officers, we could always go back and up it to a higher level, if we needed to,” Jean Anderson said. She told council the 66,000 option requires the least immediate draw on reserves and would likely allow the city to hire roughly seven officers in year one.

Why it matters: Police staffing and retiree benefits are the meeting’s central fiscal trade-offs. The council must balance recruiting and retention for the Paris Police Department, potential tax-rate increases (the “de minimis” and voter-approval thresholds), and one-time use of reserves to cover recurring personnel costs until new revenue is realized.

Most important details

- Current and proposed pay: Paris’ current starting police salary was cited at about $56,000. Staff compared Paris to 13 peer agencies and showed that raising the starting salary to $66,000, $68,000 or $70,000 would move Paris near the top of that peer group.

- Staffing assumptions: Budget scenarios used 33 officers budgeted in the first year and 40 officers budgeted in the following year (40 being the staffing cap noted under the city’s ordinance). Staff estimated the city could realistically hire about seven new officers in year one.

- Fiscal impacts and reserves: Under staff calculations, the $66,000 starting-pay option produced a first-year operating deficit of roughly $342,740 and a second-year shortfall of about $187,811; it would require approximately $531,551 of reserve support (figures as presented by staff). The $68,000 option showed larger shortfalls (presented as roughly $419,842 the first year and about $541,844 the next year) and staff said it would require on the order of $1.0 million of reserves. The $70,000 option showed a first-year shortfall presented as about $495,000 and larger multi-year deficits requiring roughly $1.63 million of reserves in the scenarios shown. Jean Anderson emphasized those figures are estimates tied to hiring pace and the TMRS rate assumptions.

- TMRS and the COLA requirement: Staff showed two TMRS (Texas Municipal Retirement System) contribution-rate scenarios. The lower TMRS contribution projection was 5.7 percent; the higher projection — 11.51 percent — reflected the additional cost of granting the retiree COLA combined with updated service credits. Jean Anderson said, “Because you can’t do you can’t give the COLA without giving the updated service credit. That’s the way the statute’s written.” The total price tag for the retiree COLA package was stated in the meeting at about $1,100,000.

- Tax-rate mechanics and household impact: Staff assumed using the de minimis tax-rate option would generate about $500,000 in new revenue in year one. Using the average homestead taxable value cited by staff ($148,000), the difference between the de minimis rate and the voter-approval rate translated in the presentation to roughly $13.62 per average homeowner per year.

Council discussion and positions

Council members split on how large an immediate pay increase to approve. Several members voiced support for $70,000 to make a stronger retention/recruiting gap with nearby agencies; others favored the $66,000 or $68,000 options as a more conservative path that would use less reserves and rely on staged tax-rate increases.

Police Chief Salter framed the problem as retention rather than recruitment. “Our bigger problem is retention, not recruitment,” Chief Salter said, noting Paris trains officers who then leave for Lamar County or school-district positions that may offer similar pay and lighter work schedules.

City Manager Grayson and staff reiterated that council policy direction is required before staff can finalize the numbers for the formal tax-rate notices and the budget ordinance. Jean Anderson said staff could prepare revised budget versions reflecting a $68,000 or $70,000 police starting salary and include the retiree COLA for council review.

Next steps and staff direction

Council directed staff to prepare updated budget scenarios for the next workshop. Staff said they could produce revised printouts showing the financial impacts of a $68,000 or $70,000 starting salary and the retiree COLA; Jean Anderson said she could have revised numbers available for council review in advance of the next meeting. The council scheduled an additional budget workshop for Thursday at 5:30 p.m. to review updated scenarios; staff noted a public notice would be required when formal tax-rate amounts are proposed.

Other budget items and comments

Councilors asked about specific departmental savings and potential one-time reductions (city manager salary timing, certain publications, and outside counsel allocations) that could help reduce the amount of reserve use. Staff confirmed some line-item savings could be identified and that temporary savings in the current fiscal year (for example, lower city-manager salary while recruiting) would not necessarily be recurring.

No formal appropriation or ordinance was adopted at the Aug. 19 workshop; staff sought direction and will return with revised scenarios for council review.

Ending

Staff will provide revised budget scenarios showing at least one higher-pay option and the retiree COLA for the scheduled follow-up budget workshop. The council did not take a formal budget vote at the Aug. 19 special meeting; the meeting closed after a procedural motion to adjourn.